Leonard's Progeny
by Writer of Wonder
Summary: What if Leonard gave his sperm to Marissa and Zack so they could have a baby? They expected their daughter, Abigail, to be smart and a scientist, but what if she wasn't what they expected? Being too different from her family, Abigail desired to discover who she really was.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything of The Big Bang Theory. Chuck Lorre owns it. This is for entertainment and fanfiction purposes only.

**Author's Note:** A what if story about Leonard giving his sperm to Zack and Marissa so they could have a baby. I hope all of you like this story, and please review! :)

* * *

When the chemistry teacher, Mr. Pasternak, passed everyone's test, fifteen year old Abby Johnson, looked at hers, and she saw the grade.

_A hundred percent. How predictable._ She dryly thought, wasn't too surprised. She already figured out her grade score before the teacher passed the tests..

Abby's IQ amazed everyone who knew her. It was above 170. There was a bit of arrogance and pride in her that was the smartest one in her grade.

Other than the Korean boy named Jackson Kang. They've been academic rivals ever since middle school.

She wondered how well her student did. Not technically _her_ student, but he might as well be. Tyler Marshall was one of the kids she had tutored. He needed more than her to get help, maybe like a miracle. Tyler was ineligible to play football until he got good grades because he had miserably failed almost all of his classes. So, Mr. Pasternak let Abby tutor him. It was a difficult task, but she had managed. She hoped that he done well.

_He told me we could hang out more. _Abby remembered excitedly in her mind.

Even though Tyler may not be smart like herself or even like Jackson, he was so incredibly handsome. One of the hottest boys the high school had to offer.

After the bell rang, the class was over. Abby hurriedly went to Tyler to see how his test was. She didn't approach to him too quickly so she wouldn't look too obsessed with him, but with a casual speed to appear normal in front of him.

"Hey," Abby greeted him in the hallway.

"Hey." Tyler said. He was a bit down.

Abby didn't want to assume the worst.

"So, what did you get on your test?" She asked with interest.

He handed her his test with disappointment, but when she saw the grade, she was utterly surprised, and looked at him. His happily grinned at her. She couldn't believe he had pretended to act sad.

"Look at that! An eighty percent! It's good enough for me. I never got a grade like that."

"This is great, Tyler!" Before Abby could stop herself, she hugged him.

Fortunately, he had hugged her back, too.

Abby let herself relax and embrace in his warm and strong arms. She liked how her body was against his broad and muscular chest. She inhaled his musky cologne.

"Uh, Abby? You can let go of me now." Tyler said uncomfortably.

Abby's eyes widened in horror, and she backed off of him instantly. She just made the contact awkward and uncomfortable. Great. She was such a loser.

"So," Abby said, unsure of how to continue. "Uhhh...when do you want us to hang out?"

"Huh?" Tyler said stupidly until he remembered. "Oh, uh, right," He nervously scratched the back of his head, and his blue eyes nervously looked at anywhere besides her. "Uh, my schedule's kinda busy. I have to improve my grades, and actually study a lot. I'm so close to return to the team, we won't have much time to spend together."

Abby's heart deflated. It soared into the air when they hugged, but suddenly it crashed against a brick wall, and shattered into pieces.

"Oh..." To assume that Abby was disappointed was a major understatement.

It looked like Tyler briefly felt guilty. "You understand, don't you?"

Abby snapped herself out of it. Of course, she did. It was _Tyler Marshall_. He wouldn't want to hang out with a nerd like her.

"Yeah, totally." She tried to sound cool about it, but instead she felt dead inside.

That moment of guilt was gone from Tyler face, and he went back to his easy going self.

"Okay, cool," He beamed. "Thanks for your help, Johnson. See you later?"

Tyler walked away to his friends where they were in a group.

Abby sadly sighed as she went to her own locker. She banged her head against it a few times.

"You'd lose some brain cells when you do that. I hope you knew that already." It was one of her best and only friends, Chloe Hartley. She had red hair, blue eyes, and was a couple of inches taller than Abby.

"I could lose a few so I won't be such a nerd." Abby muttered.

"What's wrong, Abs?" Chloe asked with concern. "I knew you couldn't have failed the chemistry test."

Abby turned around to face Chloe, and leaned against her locker. "I didn't. I passed it. Got a hundred."

"Not surprised."

"It's about Tyler. He said we could hang out before, but now we're not going to anymore..."

"Typical," Chloe rolled her blue eyes. "He obviously used you, Abby."

Abby thought about it.

They have studied and worked together. They got along well with each other. Abby was stupid enough to believe they could've been friends, and dreamed to be more than friends someday. Now, that Tyler got good grades, he suddenly didn't need her anymore. He got what he wanted out of her.

"You're right. I'm so stupid!"

"You're smart enough to finally realize that, huh?" Alyssa Montgomery teased her. She was with her group of snotty friends that Abby have always hated.

Alyssa was the most beautiful girl with dirty blonde hair except with green eyes not blue. Abby felt ugly compared to her because of her long, wavy brown hair and brown eyes. Only her friends knew she wore contacts; she wouldn't be caught dead to have worn glasses. She'll look like a bigger nerd than she already was.

Alyssa was one of Abby's enemies, and they've always hated each other. Abby never understood why Alyssa was mean to her for no reason. To be honest, she was jealous of Alyssa because of her popularity and beauty. She knew it was stupid to be jealous of those vain and superficial things, but she couldn't help it.

"Shut up, Alyssa!" Chloe snapped, but she had ignored her.

"You won't ever have a chance with Tyler. Besides, easy girls have always been his thing."

"Like yourself?" She retorted.

"If I'm not able to have him then no one could," Alyssa narrowed her green eyes at her then looked at Abby. "Tyler's not into nerds like you anyway. So, don't even try, Johnson."

Then she and her friends walked away from them.

"She always annoyed me," Chloe muttered. "It's not like she owned this place. Don't listen to her, Abby. You're not a nerd. You're the smartest person in this entire school. She was most likely jealous of you because Tyler's attention was on you for a while. But seriously though, you had to have known that he was a player."

"That's true. Why did I ever thought I had a chance with him?" Abby asked. She shook her head at her pathetic wishful thoughts.

"Don't worry. You're not the only one."

Abby had mentally made a promise to herself that she'd never fall for hot and dumb guys ever again.

* * *

After school was over, her mother, Marissa, would usually pick her up from work. She really didn't have to work because their family was rich because of her father, Zack, and the menu designing company he had. But her mother had wanted to get a job once Abby grew older. Marissa once said it was a bore and quiet at the house when Abby was away at school or with her best friend. Her father was still retired.

"Hey, honey, how was school today?" Her mother always brightly asked her.

Abby shrugged. "It was fine."

"How was your test?"

"Fine. I got a hundred percent on it."

Her mother grinned. "Of course you did! My little girl is such a genius!" She praised which made Abby felt a little bit better since she thought of herself as a dork and a nerd.

She didn't want to brag, but it was true that Abby was the smartest one in the family. Not only at school. She figured she may have inherited the intelligence from other family members down the line. It could be possible. She hadn't meant that her parents were stupid, but they're not on the same intellectual level as her.

Sometimes, Abby would have to help her parents out with the most simplest tasks. For instance, she always reminded them about their appointments, and wrote it down for them. She told her mother where to find her lost items if she didn't remember where she last put it. She told her father to bend his head down to not accidentally hit it on the ceiling if he was too tall in a room or went downstairs.

It sometimes exhausted her to caught up with them, but Abby still did it anyway because they obviously needed her, and she loved her parents a lot.

"So, dinner is up to you tonight!" Her mother still smiled, a bit too happy for Abby's taste.

"Really?" Abby asked. It was only rare that would happen, especially on a weekday.

"Yeah," She nodded. "Pick anywhere you want to eat. Your choice."

Abby saw right through her mother's odd behavior, and knew something was up.

"What happened? Are you alright?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, of course I am, sweetie. Why wouldn't I be?" Her mother's smile wavered a little, and she mostly avoided her daughter's eyes. That's when Abby could sense something was off.

"It's a Wednesday, and we usually don't go out to eat on weekdays. Also, your smile is freaking me out a lot. You look like the Joker."

That's when her mother finally caved in. Her smile fell, and her face was serious.

"Okay, I couldn't lie to you any longer about this," She sighed in defeat. "Today we decided to take you out for a reason."

"What reason would that be?" Abby asked curiously.

"I promised your Dad that we would tell you together."

Abby racked through her brain. She wondered what it could be. It sounded like it was majorly important and serious.

"Did someone die?"

She chuckled a little. "No, it's nothing like that. It's just...between the three of us."

What could it be that it was them as a family?

Abby knew her mother couldn't get pregnant because her father was infertile. He told her the reason why before. At least, maybe why he was infertile. It disturbed her, and was a gross story. She kind of hoped it would be a vacation, but it was still in the middle of the school year; they wouldn't do that. Had they plan to move to a new house? If so, that wouldn't be too serious.

She tried to think of so many things, but came up with nothing.

After about twenty minutes later, they arrived home. Zack turned off the television when he saw Marissa and their teenaged daughter entered the house.

"Hey, kiddo." He greeted Abigail, and ruffled the top of her brown hair.

She gave him a look as she smoothed out her hair. "You know I hate it when you do that."

He smiled in amusement. "I know. That's why I do it."

She rolled her eyes.

"How's school?"

"Fine. Nothing special. I've passed my test today."

"Not surprised. We raised you to be a genius. Maybe a scientist someday."

"Just because I like math and science doesn't mean I might be a scientist." Abby replied.

She felt like she said that a hundred times before. For some reason, her parents wanted her to become a scientist. They had a particular field in mind like maybe a physicist or even a neurobiologist. But there was no way she would inspect the insides of a brain. She could barely handle to watch horror movies with the blood splattered everywhere, and that included the body parts. A doctor was completely out of her career choices.

Abby was mostly interested in being a graphic designer, or maybe some other career. It always changed.

"We know, honey, but you never know when you could change your mind." Marissa said.

They've had the same conversation before, so Abby hadn't felt like to repeat it.

"Where do you want to eat for dinner?" Zack asked her. "You know it's your choice, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Ummm...how about the Olive Garden?" Abby suggested.

"Sounds great!"

"Perfect!" Her parents said simultaneously.

It was only after Abby finished her homework, they went out to the restaurant. When their waiter served their drinks to them, and they gave him their orders, Abby's parents was about to tell her the news.

"What's this all about?" She wondered. She was way too curious. "Everything's okay, right?"

"You are too smart for your own good." Zack said.

"Honey, we have to tell you something, but I wanted you to know you shouldn't blame yourself for this." Marissa comforted her as if she was a small child.

How her mother started made Abby worry.

"We're getting a divorce." Zack announced.

Well, that was something Abby had never expected.


	2. Chapter 2

For as smart as Abby was, and how much her parents claimed her to be, a divorce from her parents was something she never saw coming.

Her face fell into being upset. "What...? A...a _divorce_?"

"Yeah." Zack answered while her mother slowly nodded.

"Why? How did this happen?"

"Well, we kept it a secret that our marriage was falling apart from you the best we could," Marissa explained. "We never fought in front of you, and your Dad and I wanted different things in life. Sometimes, your Dad more than me..."

She said her last sentence in a low and bitter voice that Abby didn't understand why she had said it like that.

"We want you to know that in no way this had anything to do with you," Zack assured. "It's between your Mom and I. Not at all your fault."

"Right," Marissa immediately agreed. "Unfortunately, we can't just work it out anymore."

Abby didn't want to believe it. Her own parents were separating. It was more than just a break up she's been hearing at school. They're getting a divorce, and they won't get back together.

"Haven't you considered going to marriage counseling?" She asked desperately.

"Honey, counseling wouldn't be able to fix us." Marissa shook her head slowly at her.

Abby felt like she was at a complete loss as what to do. This was something she couldn't help them with.

Was she that absorbed about her own life she never saw the signs of her parents' declining marriage?

She now understood why they went out to eat. Not only to break the horrible news to her, but so she wouldn't have made a scene about it.

Abby always believed her parents would've been together forever. She couldn't imagine them being apart. She loved how they were together as a family. Her Dad would do or say goofy things to have made herself and her Mom laugh. Mom would take them to the comic book store. Abby loved to read manga, and it was hilarious that her Dad still loved the Archie comics.

The thought of her parents divorcing almost made her want to cry.

"Are you okay, AJ?" Zack asked her with worry and concern. He even used her nickname which made her soften.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine." Abby nodded, shaking those feelings off.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell her the other part." Zack said looking at his wife. Well, his ex-wife.

"What other part?" Abby asked curiously. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I can take it."

Her parents exchanged glances at each other.

"Well..." Marissa began unsurely.

Then she got interrupted by their waiter who brought them their food. But Abby had lost interest with that, and was not ready to eat it yet until she found her answers.

"May you please tell me?" Abby almost begged to them, and they sighed.

"My job promoted me to work for them in their office at San Fransisco," She revealed delicately to her. "And I accepted it."

_San Fransisco...that's about five hours away from Pasadena. She can't be serious! _Abby thought with horror because of the long distance.

She felt like her appetite was completely gone at this point.

"You're...you're going to leave us?" Abby frowned feeling like she really going to break down. She didn't want to be separated from her mother. "Will I have to go to school there?" She hoped that she wouldn't have to.

Chloe was her only best friend, and she didn't want to leave her behind. It was difficult for Abby to make friends as it was.

"I'm not leaving you, sweetie," Marissa assured. "You're going to continue school here, and live with your Dad. We couldn't force you to live with me after getting such heavy news, and I know how close you'd want to be with Chloe. In the summers, you'll live with me."

"What about holidays? My birthdays?"

"We still have to sort that stuff out." Zack answered.

"So, I won't be leaving school?" Abby asked just to be sure.

"Well, I was planning to move into a smaller space. Y'know, just for the two of us," Then he sheepishly continued. "And it won't be close to your school now, so you have to go to a different one."

_Mom did say I will continue school here meaning in Pasadena, but not at my regular high school. My life is falling apart..._ Abby thought miserably.

It turned out being shot down by Tyler Marshall wasn't the worst part of her day after all. It's because of her parents.

Abby felt tears prickled behind her eyes.

"You okay, honey?" Marissa asked worriedly, her hand reaching out to touch her own, but Abby moved hers off from the table, and onto her lap.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine, Mom. Why-why wouldn't I be?"

Despite how upset Abby felt, she started to eat her food much to her parents' surprise. They joined her by eating their meals as well.

When they arrived home, the first thing Abby did was she went up to her bedroom to text Chloe about what happened during dinner. She had to inform her about everything.

Instead of texting a reply, Chloe called her. They talked about it almost all night. She was just as upset about the news as Abby was. Her best friend was leaving her, and moving to a new school. They were going to lose each other.

It took a while for the moving process to take place. Apparently, her father already had bought their new house for them, and her mother bought a new house in San Fransisco. They done it all behind Abby's back. She couldn't help to have felt hurt and offended being left in the dark, and for them keeping secrets.

When they were going to move, Abby said her teary eyed goodbyes to her mother, and they fiercely hugged each other. Marissa promised that they could talk together on Video Chat, and she'll see her in the summer. Abby moved into the new place with Zack as her mother departed.

It was like she was starting a whole new life.

Abby was going to start her new school after the weekend was over. She already said goodbye to Chloe at school, and Chloe had visited her before the big move.

On a Sunday, Abby and Zack were eating pizza for dinner.

"Are you excited to go to your new school?" Her father asked as if in an attempt to start a conversation.

It was just dead silence between them if there were no talking.

"I guess..." Abby mumbled with a lazy shrug.

Zack sighed not knowing what else to say. He knew already how disappointed and upset his daughter was. But it was the only right thing to do for his family.

"To divorce your mother was the only way to make things work," He softly told her. "You get that, don't you?"

"Yeah, I get that," She snapped. "Can we just not mention the...D word?"

"Like dollop?" He asked playfully.

"Dad..." She groaned in annoyance.

In other situations, that would have made her laugh. It was one of the words she hated like moist. But she hadn't felt the humor in anything.

Zack nodded in understanding, but was a little disappointed and sad that he hadn't made her laugh. He still ate anyway.

Abby dreaded the next day she would go to her new school.

* * *

Arthur Cooper was in the hallway with his friends and twin sister, Caroline. His _fraternal_ twin sister, mind you. They had time to spare before they had to go to home room for the morning announcements. He was with Michael Wolowitz and Padma Koothrapali. Michael was older than them being sixteen. Arthur was a year younger, and Padma was fourteen. She just started her high school year as a freshman.

The three of them mostly grew up together. Along with Michael's older sister, Halley, who was a senior. She was being with the rest of her own friends. Halley was the oldest out of all of them. Not only was she the big sister to Michael, but it was like she's the big sister to the rest of them as well.

"You know what I've been thinking about?" Padma said thoughtfully.

"What?" Michael asked trying to sound interested.

Him and Arthur knew how strange her thoughts were. It was something they didn't want to know.

"It's not how can vampires have orgasms again, is it?" Arthur groaned.

"No. You can thank Twilight for screwing me up with those type of questions. If the earth is flat, how do you explain the time zones?"

"Ugh. If we're going to talk about the possibilities of a flat earth of all things, hang me now." Arthur's twin sister, Caroline, said.

"You know no one here believes in that sort of jargon, do you?" Michael asked to Padma.

"I know, but don't you want to think about it for fun?" She asked eagerly.

"If we have those thoughts for fun entertainment then we might as well believe in the existence of mythical creatures, witchcraft, pseudosciences, and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo nonsense."

Arthur tried to stifle in his giggle.

"What?" His twin asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You said mumbo jumbo."

Caroline and Michael gave a look at each other to shake their heads and roll their eyes because of him.

"I kind of believe in it. I mean, who's to say it's not?"

"Astronauts." Caroline bluntly answered.

"Yeah, my Dad is one which he tells Halley and I and also tells us his space story about a thousand times." Michael sighed. He could remember by heart what his father did in space.

"He built a dumpster, right?" Padma asked seeming to have forgotten.

"That's not what he likes to call it."

"Sorry. _Space_ dumpster."

"According to Dad, it's a zero gravity waste disposal system. I could happily tell him that you would like to hear about his NASA story. He showed Halley and I a PowerPoint presentation of it."

"Uh, no thanks." Padma grimaced.

"Really? He'd gladly show you. It's quite riveting." He said sarcastically.

"You've really got to stop watching conspiracy videos." Arthur advised her.

"Can't help it. Makes my mind think."

"How about this to ponder about: do you think that cute girl over at nine o'clock would like to go out with me?" Michael asked, eyeing the person he was mentioning.

Him, Padma, and Caroline turned their heads where he was looking. However, Arthur looked down at his wristwatch in confusion with a frown on his face.

"What are you talking about? It's not nine o'clock. It's seven thirty."

"Figure of speech, Arthur." Caroline told him.

"Oh." He immediately understood, and looked at their direction.

They saw a confused and lost girl in the middle of the hallway looking down at her schedule. She had long, curly brown hair, and was short. The girl was also pretty. They were positive she was new. She wasn't recognizable to them at all.

"Does she look familiar to you?" Michael asked them.

"No." The three answered, shaking their heads.

"She's short. Perhaps 5'5." Arthur commented out of the blue.

"Of course you'd point that out of all things, not the fact that she's cute," Michael responded. "And, yeah, she's short, but she's not my-Mom-short," He turned to Arthur's twin. "Hey, Caroline-"

"No, I'm not going to set her up with you." She rejected with crossed arms. She was in that position before under his request.

"Thanks for that heads up, but I wasn't going to ask you that anyway. I was wondering if you could befriend her, _hoping_ it'll lead to that point, but-"

"_Me_? Going up to _her_? You know how I am meeting new people. I'll make it awkward." Caroline got worried and anxious. She was mostly comfortable being with her friends and her twin.

"What if I go with you?" Padma encouraged helpfully.

"I don't know. I mean, what do I even say to her?"

"A hello and stating your name would be a fine introduction." Arthur answered which Caroline gave him a look for because of the obvious.

"Well, what if she won't like me?"

"Don't worry about that," Arthur comforted. "You overthink too much."

"If you won't go to her then I will." Padma volunteered.

"No. Let's go together. I could use a new friend." Caroline eventually accepted the task.

Her and Padma approached to the girl together. Hopefully, things would go well for them.

"Hi." Padma greeted friendly to her.

"Uh...hi." The brunette said. She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"My name is Padma Koothrapali."

"And I'm Caroline Cooper." She remembered to introduce herself, and made a small smile at her in an attempt to be friendly.

"My name is Abby Johnson. You can call me AJ, too, if you want. That's what my Dad does." She finished awkwardly. She didn't know why she told them about the AJ nickname when they were new to her. Only her Dad and Chloe could call her that.

There was suddenly silence between the three of them. Neither one didn't know what else to say next. Until Padma was the first to speak.

"We couldn't help to notice that you're new." She mentioned.

"Yeah, you look lost." Caroline observed.

"Was I that obvious?" Abby asked. She wasn't aware that she was.

Caroline worried that she might've said the wrong thing to have made Abby felt bad. "Well, no, it's just that - uh, I mean-"

"Anything we could help you out with?" Padma interrupted her.

"Yeah, I need to find Mrs. Dechart's homeroom." She glanced at her schedule again.

"That's where I'll be going, too. I'll show you." Caroline replied.

"So, you're new here?" Padma asked conversationally.

"Yeah. My Dad and I just moved, so I had to go to a new school." Abby answered.

"Where were you originally from?" Caroline asked.

"Around here in this area." She really didn't want to tell them the reason why they had to move. The topic was still new and sensitive for her.

The three of them started talking to each other. Caroline got comfortable with the girl's presence. Padma was mostly doing the talking. Caroline thought it was funny how Padma's father couldn't speak to women once, but his daughter was the most talkative person she knew. Padma must've gotten that from her mother.

When the bell rang, they went to their respective homerooms. Abby was in tenth grade like Caroline and her twin brother.

Once everyone filed into homeroom, and took their seats, Mrs. Dechart started to do the roll calls. Of course, Abby's name stood out to her because she was new. Mrs. Dechart let Abby introduce herself to everyone.

_I hate doing this... _Abby groaned inside her head. _It's so embarrassing!_

Abby walked up to the front of the class, and stared at everyone. She recognized Caroline who was the only one familiar to her.

"Uh...so...my name is Abby Johnson. I recently moved here with my Dad. Just me and him. There's nothing else interesting to know about me. Oh, except my IQ is 175, but sometimes, I don't feel like I am. Ummm...I've made a ferrofluid lava lamp for fun once, and a Hoberman Sphere. Other than that...yeah." She finished lamely, and ignored everyone staring at her as she returned to her seat.

The morning announcements started, and then a few minutes later, it was time for class.

_This is going to be a very long day. Where's Chloe when I need her to help me get through this? _Abby thought missing her best friend.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I named Sheldon and Amy's son, Arthur, after Arthur Jeffries aka Professor Proton since he was the one who got Sheldon interested in science. I always see their son getting named Stephen because of Stephen Hawking. Caroline is a character from Amy's favorite TV Show called The Little House On the Prairie. Leonard and Penny won't have any children in this story because Penny didn't want any. I actually didn't like that she got pregnant in the finale, but oh well. I hope you like this chapter, and please review! :)


	3. Chapter 3

It was the almost month of November.

It was soon to be that day.

October was almost over, and in a few weeks it would be Leonard's daughter's birthday. He still had it memorized by heart.

November 12th was Abigail's birthday.

Technically, Abigail Johnson wasn't his daughter by the law, and on her birth certificate. Abigail was his daughter biologically, so he still secretly counted her as his child. It was nice. A part of his DNA was out there in the world being raised by her father, Zack Johnson, of all people, and his wife Marissa.

Both Leonard and Penny believed Zack wouldn't have made the best parent in the world. Zack and Marissa seemed to be equally dumb, and not parent material. Penny didn't trust Zack to be a father to a living human being.

However, Zack and Marissa proved them wrong once Abigail came into the world. Leonard remembered how great Zack handled the pregnancy. Leonard and Penny saw how Zack impressively matured from being a father raising a child.

The last time Leonard saw Abby was when she was four. He highly doubted that she would remember him or Penny. Not everyone was able to have an eidetic memory as a special gift like Sheldon. Leonard secretly wished to see more of her. Especially now in these days what became of her. Abby would probably be around the age like Sheldon and Amy's twins, fifteen. That was crazy to think about.

Only fifteen years ago was when Zack and Marissa asked Leonard for his sperm so they could have a child. He was flattered they had asked him.

_Someone knocked on the door of the 4A apartment._

_Penny went to answer it, and saw that it was Zack and Marissa Johnson along with their little girl, Abigail. The girl was four years old, almost five soon. She was shy, and hid behind her father's tall legs away from the blonde woman. There was a kid-sized glittery unicorn book bag she had on that was probably filled with her favorite toys, so she won't be bored._

_"Hey, guys! Come on in!" Penny said friendly to them._

_"Thanks, Penny." Zack said as he and his wife walked in._

_"We bought you guys wine." Marissa said holding the bottle. _

_"Oh, thanks. I can always drink wine. You guys want some now?"_

_"Sure." They both answered._

_"Leonard! They're here!" Penny called for her husband, and he came out to greet them. His face lit up when he saw Abby._

_Their daughter stood still at the doorway as if afraid to walk in any further._

_"Why are you being shy all of a sudden?" Zack asked her. "You didn't stop talking before. She was going on and on about wanting to go to Disneyland earlier."_

_"She really wants to go there, and we might take her for her birthday," Marissa looked at her, smiling, and gently encouraged. __"Come on in, honey. There's nothing to be scared of. Leonard and Penny are nice people."_

_"Yeah, and you know what? We have an apple juice box with your name it," Penny smiled at the girl. She looked at Zack and Marissa. "It's been a long time since she was here. This place is probably new and different for her. She wouldn't remember."_

_"Oh, gosh, it has been a while," Marissa said. "She was only two."_

_"When they said about how bad the Terrible Twos were, they weren't joking." Zack said remembering those days. Abby always kept them both on their feet._

_"You wanna go to Disneyland, huh? That's sounds fun and so cool," Penny said trying to be friendly to her. "Who's your favorite princess? Mine is Cinderella."_

_"Really?" Zack said with interest. "Mine is Jasmine."_

_"We all know why," Marissa rolled her eyes. "She's barely has clothes on. Mine is Belle."_

_"Cause she reads a lot." Zack said knowingly. They stared and smiled lovingly at each other._

_Leonard and Penny knew they met at the bookstore, but Marissa didn't read. They didn't know how Belle could be relatable to her._

_"How about you, Leonard?" Marissa asked him._

_"I don't have a favorite. I never grew up on Disney."_

_She frowned in sympathy for him._

_"What kind of childhood did you have?" Zack asked in disbelief._

_"A sad one." He answered._

_"Tell them who your favorite princess is, Abs." Zack said._

_"Victoria." Abby_ _answered__ in such a small and soft voice that Leonard and Penny barely heard her._

_"Who's that?" Penny asked cluelessly._

_"She's a British newbie." Zack clarified._

_When she still refused to come in, Leonard decided to give it a try. He approached to her, and kneeled down at her level._

_"Is there anything inside your cool book bag to play with?"_

_She made small smile at him shaking her head._

_"Really?" He doubted playfully. "Are you sure?"_

_"Why don't you show Leonard what's inside?" Marissa suggested. "Maybe you two can play together."_

_Abby looked at her mother as if taking her words into consideration. Then that's when she had finally entered inside the apartment with them. Leonard got up, and closed the door. He sat on the floor with Abby. He didn't mind doing it, he knew she would be bored hearing the adults talk. It was smart of the parents to bring something along for her entertainment. __Penny was pouring the new wine into the four glasses, and gave it out to them. Leonard took a sip of his, and put it on the table away from Abby's reach. Penny went to get the juice box, and handed it to her. _

_"Thank you." Abby said in a cute voice that made Leonard's heart melt. She poked the hole with the end of the bendy straw, drank some of it, and then set it on the table._

_"You're welcome, sweetie. So, do you think you guys will have anymore kids?" Penny asked them, sitting on the couch. She drank some of her red wine._

_"We thought about it." Zack replied._

_"Adoption was our next choice. We thought of to ask Leonard again, but I couldn't do it not when I didn't thought to ask how you felt about it." Marissa answered._

_"Me?" Penny was confused._

_"You know how much we wanted a baby for the first time, and Leonard was our first choice. That's all we could think about. We knew it was a struggle for you to let him do it, and we didn't want you to go through with that again." She explained._

_"Oh...well, thanks." Penny said wasn't expecting that. _

_"It's been difficult for us with the whole adoption process," Zack said. "There's the waiting, finding the right agency, the legalities, and all of that BS."_

_"Zack, what have I told you about swearing in front of Abby?" Marissa hissed._

_"Oh, right." He felt ashamed of himself._

_Leonard and Penny exchanged glances at each other as if Abby was old enough to understand the abbreviations for BS in that context._

_"We're so happy and grateful to have our little Abby that we're content with just her." Marissa said._

_"She's so spoiled being our only kid."_

_Leonard could tell with the many toys and other activities that was in her book bag. He was helping and watching her color and put the stickers inside her coloring book. She wasn't coloring like most kids her age. It was perfectly in the lines, not a crazy scribble._

_The adults talked while Abby was preoccupied with her things. Leonard's been with her on the floor, but he eventually moved to sit comfortably on the other chair which Abby didn't seem to mind. It was like she didn't even notice he left her._

_When Penny asked if anyone was ready for dinner, they all said yes, and was about to get up for their plates to eat. The moment the four adults turned their heads and got distracted, their was a crash that startled them. They immediately turned around, and saw Abby bursting into tears. It was Penny's wine glass that had shattered, but thankfully, it was empty. Leonard quickly put the pieces together of what happened, and figured Abby reached for her juice box, but accidentally knocked over her box and Penny's glass. Some of the apple juice spilled out onto the floor. Abby bend down to pick it up, but yelped when she must've got a piece of glass stuck in her finger._

_Abby let go of the box as if she had touched fire, and really started to cry because of the pain. Marissa rushed over to her daughter with Zack following closely at her heels from behind. They tried to soothe and calm her down. Marissa got worried when she saw her daughter's finger was bleeding profusely. Abby was about to get the tiny shard out herself, but in a panic, Marissa stopped her._

_"No, no. Don't do that, honey."_

_"Penny, get the tweezers and needle in the bathroom, but sterilize them with rubbing alcohol first, and get a bandaid also." Leonard demanded her as if Abby's life was on the line. She quickly went to the bathroom. He couldn't bare seeing his daughter in pain._

_Seconds later, Penny arrived with the tools and handed them to Leonard. He was about to pull the bit of glass out of Abby's finger until Zack stopped him._

_"No worries, Leonard. I can do it."_

_"It's fine, Zack. I can." He argued. Abby wasn't only Zack's daughter, but his, too, in a way._

_Zack got a little annoyed at him, and said in a firm voice. "Leonard, she's my daughter, and she's injured. Let me do it."_

_Leonard looked at Abby, and it broke his heart to watch her cry like that._

_"Mommy, it hurts." She cried._

_"I know, honey."_

_"Fine." Leonard gave in, and handed the tweezer and needle to him. He couldn't help to be stubborn about it._

_Zack gave him a look, and so did Penny, but she didn't say anything._

_"Okay, sweetie, now I'm just gonna-"_

_"No!" Abby sniffled as tears slid down her cheeks. She backed away from him being afraid. That her father was going to pull it out, and was worried if it'd hurt. The last time she saw something silver and pointy was at the doctor's office getting a shot which had hurt a lot._

_"Abby, once Daddy will remove the glass from your finger, it won't hurt anymore." Marissa told her, rubbing her small back._

_"P-promise?" Abby's head turned to her mother and her brown eyes looked at her in complete trust._

_"I promise." _

_Abby moved a little closer to him, holding out her shaky and bleeding finger. Marissa held onto her closely as she still rubbed her back._

_"You know what can even be better to take the pain away? If you can close your eyes for me and imagine it's not there anymore. Try to think of something else." Zack suggested to distract her before he removed it._

_Abby closed her eyes, frowning, as she fretted. "I can't think of anything!"_

_Zack thought fast on his feet, and randomly thought. "Remember when we saw that totally cool live action Disney movie Treasure Planet? Or when we went to the San Diego Zoo?"_

_"Yeah." A small smile was starting to form onto her lips at the memory._

_"And we saw all of those beautiful animals," Marissa continued the story while Zack was trying to remove the glass from their daughter's finger. "And your favorite animal was the flamingos because-"_

_"They were pink," Abby broadly smiled. "My favorite color."_

_"And remember when we were feeding the giraffes carrots, and one of them sneezed on Daddy?" Marissa smiled making Abby giggle._

_"Yeah!"_

_"Hey, I didn't think that was so funny," Zack said, but not really meaning it because back then it was to him, too. "And you thought the elephant's poop was the biggest turd you saw in, like, ever."_

_"Even bigger than Butters's turd!"_

_"Who's Butters?" Leonard asked curiously. Him and Penny were amused at their stories, and touched at how well Zack and Marissa was handling Abby._

_"He's my brother's gold labrador retriever." Marissa answered._

_"His name is Butters because of the color of his fur." Abby explained._

_"Makes total sense." Penny nodded in understanding._

_"And we put the bandaid on now..." Zack narrated as he was actually doing it. "There we go! You're good as new, rugrat. Open your eyes and see."_

_Abby opened her eyes and saw that her bleeding finger was now covered with a bandaid. She frowned in disappointment._

_"What's wrong?" Marissa asked her._

_"It's not a Mickey Mouse bandaid..." _

_"Sorry. We don't have those around here." Penny apologized as Leonard started cleaning up the remains of the glass pieces with the dust pan and brush. He put it in the trash can that he brought close to him. _

_Abby shrugged. "It's okay. I'm sorry for breaking your glass, Mr. and Mrs. Hofstadter." She said shyly, avoiding their faces. Her head looked down at her shoes in shame._

_For some reason, it pained Leonard to hear that Abby called him Mr. Hofstadter._

_"Oh, it's okay, sweetie. Don't worry about it. I have plenty glasses. And you don't have to call me Mrs. Hofstadter, okay? That makes me feel so old. You can call me Penny."_

_Leonard_ was_ about to carry the trash can back to its proper place as well as the dust pan and brush. _

_"And you can call me...Leonard." He said trying to be friendly, and to get over the fact that he could never really be her father._

_After the mess was cleaned up, and they had their dinner (and dessert much to Abby's pleasure), the Johnson family was about to leave._

_"Oh, hey, Zack?" Penny called for him. "Can you wait for a sec?"_

_"Yeah, sure," Zack replied, and turned to his wife who stood at the doorway. She was holding their daughter in her arms. "You can go down, and start the car. I'm sure the little squirt must be tired by now. I'll catch up, kay?"_

_"Kay," Marissa said. "It was nice seeing you guys! We should do it again sometime!"_

_"Yeah, we so should!" Penny agreed, smiling at her._

_"Bye, Marissa," Leonard said, and waved to the little girl. "Bye, Abby."_

_Abby made a small smile at him. "Bye, Leonard and Penny!"_

_Marissa left and closed the door._

_"What's up?" Zack asked Penny._

_"I just want to say that I thought you did a really good job with Abby when she was hurt. To be honest, I never thought you would make a great parent because you're...well..."_

_"Stupid." He put it bluntly._

_"No, not that-"_

_"It's not like I didn't know what you two thought of me before Marissa and I had a kid," He looked at Leonard. "I still remember when you and your friends made fun of me."_

_Leonard unfortunately remembered that, too, and felt horrible. "Yeah. I'm sorry about that."_

_"It's okay. In the past, right? We're friends now. You gave me the greatest gift I ever wanted, and without you, it'd be impossible for me to have Abby in my life."_

_"You really do love her." Penny said in awe and amazement. It was sweet._

_"Of course I do. Being a father changed me. I can't explain how, but it did."_

_"I can see that," Penny could definitely tell the difference between the old Zack and the new, grown up one; fatherhood matured him. "I'm sorry I totally underestimated you and Marissa. You really are a great father."_

_Zack smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Penny. That means a lot."_

_"And I'm sorry I thought that way, too. And for my attitude to you earlier over Abby-"_

_"I get it," Zack interrupted in a calm and laidback way. "I know that you love and care for her, too. And I'm sorry about the glass break-"_

_"Seriously, it's fine," Penny assured. "It wasn't a big deal."_

_"Those freak accidents happen all the time with a kid. The moment you turn your head, and the next second, something happens like that. Well, I should head out now before the wife texts me. See ya guys, later. Take care."_

_Zack started to leave as Penny and Leonard said their goodbyes to him._

That was the last time Leonard remembered seeing Abby. She was so cute as a kid. He was glad to have agreed with the decision to give a baby to them.

Penny was strongly against it, but after some thinking and talking about it, she was eventually okay with it.

Leonard hoped Abby was doing okay. He wanted to have more contact with her, but understood if the family was busy with their own lives. He even searched her on the internet before.

There was no luck on any social medias teenagers these days would use. For instance, like Facebook, (do kids even use that anymore?) Twitter, Pinterest, but he did found luck when her name came up on Instagram. There were a lot of Abby Johnsons on that App, and it became difficult to find her. He may not have seen her as a teenager, but he had a good guess on what she looked like. Thankfully, it was rather easy to have found her account because he recognized her parents. Her profile picture was of herself smiling with them. The sunny scenery behind them was a beach, so they must've been on a vacation.

_She looks so beautiful, _Leonard thought fondly, and had a stupid smile on his face.

Abby wore a bohemian maxi dress in that picture. Her and her mother were holding close to each other while Zack had his strong arm around his daughter's shoulders.

Leonard was glad and relieved that his daughter's account was private. At least she was smart enough to do that, so old creepy guys like himself wouldn't stalk her Instagram.

He knew better than to press Follow on her page, so he exited out of the App. How sad and pathetic was he to search her? Maybe himself and Penny should get together with Zack and his wife. To check up on things. Leonard grew to actually like Zack despite that he was the ex-husband of his wife. They became somewhat friends throughout the whole journey of in vitro fertilization and Marissa's pregnancy.

He sighed as he leaned back on the sofa he sat on.

Then his wife entered their home from work. They still worked at the same jobs. Even though Penny hated hers, it was nice to earn a lot of money from it. Years ago, they moved out of their apartment, and into a house that was nice and comfortable for the two of them. They decided to move after Sheldon and Amy did when she became pregnant with the twins. It just wasn't the same to still live there after the other couple moved out. Leonard and Penny actually missed them living across the hall.

"Hey." Penny greeted her husband, and gave him a kiss.

"Hey, you. How was your day?"

"It was fine. Bernadette and I had the chance to go out for lunch today. It felt like we haven't done that in forever. She's trying to see if she could get a promotion by using Michael to date her new boss's daughter. To prove that not only is she good worker, but also a good mother. She also wanted to use him so she would know how to get on her boss's good side, and be the favorite," Penny laughed, shaking her head as she joined her husband on the couch. "Can you believe that?"

"Actually, I can," Leonard chuckled. "I know how competitive she can get. I was her partner when we did Raj's dumb scavenger hunt, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I wonder if Michael would go through with it?"

"Since he's her son, he'd have to."

"Halley told me how desperate he is to have a girlfriend, so I think he would. She said that he would like to lose his virginity before graduation," Penny rolled her eyes. "That's so like Howard..."

"Yeah, but I really didn't need to hear that part." Leonard cringed.

"Neither did I," She muttered, then beamed at him. "Instead of eating here, why don't we go out to eat? Have a spontaneous date night? I don't feel like cooking, so I can go for some sushi."

"Sure, that sounds great," Leonard approved. "Just let me get my jacket and we can go."

"Okay." Penny smiled, and her husband walked to their bedroom to retrieve it.

Later at the restaurant, they had their drinks and ordered their food. A few tables ahead of them, Penny couldn't help, but to notice a couple of people were familiar to her.

"Is that who I think it is?" She asked Leonard.

"What are you talking about? Who do you see?" He turned around in his seat to try and find who caught her eye.

"I think that's Zack and Abby. Wow, she did grew up a lot since the last time we saw her."

Leonard spotted the father and daughter talking to each other, and eating at a distance from them. Abby was just as beautiful in person as she was on her Instagram profile.

"Yeah, it is. Look at that," Leonard turned to his wife. "We should go over and say hello."

Penny didn't have any opportunity to respond because Leonard was already out of his seat approaching to them. Penny deeply sighed in regret that she pointed them out. She had no choice, but to follow her husband.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, guys!" Leonard greeted them.

Zack beamed at the married couple. Abby smiled friendly at them even though she had no clue who they were. She figured they were some friend's of her father's.

"Hey, Leonard and Penny." Zack greeted them back.

"Sorry to interrupt your dinner, but I couldn't help to notice the two of you." Penny apologized.

Abby thought Leonard's wife was utterly gorgeous. It was a unique pairing that it looked like the hot blonde was with a nerdy type of guy. They somehow worked.

"Abby, this is Leonard and Penny Hofstadter," Zack introduced them to her. "They're my friends."

"Hello." Abby greeted politely.

"You've met us before, but when you were a lot younger," Leonard said. "You most likely don't remember us."

"I don't. Sorry..." She said awkwardly.

"It's okay. We haven't seen you since you were a toddler."

"That sounds about right," Zack remembered. "Man, time sure flies, doesn't it?"

"It does." Penny reflected.

Abby was the proof of it.

"We were busy with this one here. All of the activities that we put her through like dancing, piano and violin practices, and other stuff was going on."

"Oh, you play instruments?" Leonard beamed, and was interested because he had something in common with her. "I played the cello."

"Piano was my favorite than the violin. I hated dancing. Turns out I didn't have the most graceful body. I was horrible at it."

"You weren't horrible. You were a great dancer-"

Abby rolled her eyes, not believing that. "You're my Dad. You have to say stuff like that."

"How are you guys doing now?" Leonard asked conversationally. "You still have your boat?"

"No, not anymore. I sold it years ago." Zack answered.

"Cause I get seasick easily, and carsick, too " Abby said. "We took the boat out sometimes, but every time we go out I vomit. I can barely handle anything ocean related. Even sushi."

"But you still like to come here." He pointed out amusedly.

"Only for the hibachi chicken. The udon noodles are great, too." Her plate was almost empty, but she was too full to finish it. Zack ate all of his sushi so his plate was cleared.

"Also, Marissa and I got a divorce." He told them.

"What? Why?" Penny was shocked.

He shrugged. "We decided it just wasn't working out for us anymore."

"Uh, may you guys please excuse me for a sec? I need to use the bathroom." Abby got up from her chair.

"Yeah, sure." Leonard said watching her go. Penny and Zack were also understanding for her to leave.

Once Abby was out of earshot, that was when Zack turned to them to say conspiratorially.

"To be honest, Marissa and I divorced more than just that. I cheated on her." He confessed guiltily.

"What?!" Both Penny and Leonard exclaimed in shock for the second time.

"Yeah, so just keep it a secret alright? Abby doesn't even know, and we don't want her to know."

"How can you not tell her?" Leonard asked feeling more sympathy for the girl.

"And first of all, how could you cheat?" Penny asked with disappointment, her arms were crossed.

"I didn't want Abby to know because I couldn't let her see me as...the bad guy. Marissa left to San Fransisco for her job, and I knew that if Abby knows what I did, she'll want to live with her, and she wouldn't want to see me ever again. We've done a lot to have her, and I don't want to lose her. It was my ex-fiancée, remember when I told you about her?"

"Yeah." Penny answered. She was the one who told Zack it was a stupid idea to let Penny work at the menu company back then.

"That's what started it. Well, we met together one time at the bar while I was with my friends. She had this pretty bad break up, and she missed me. She regretted to not have married me. Then it was one of those times where it lead one thing to another..." He drifted off suggestively.

"I get it." Leonard said, nodding.

"We had sex." He ended his explanation.

"And you said it anyway..." Leonard mumbled.

"And there's the trail, you know. Word about it eventually passed to Marissa by one of her friends."

"Oh, Zack," Penny sighed in disapproval. "How could you do that?"

"Do what?" Abby asked returning to her seat. Then she gave her father a playful smile that matched her voice. "What did you do now?"

The smile that Abby made reminded Penny of how it was similar to Leonard's. Even her brown eyes. She studied the teenager's face more. She thought Abby almost looked like a feminine version of Leonard. Fortunately, Abby didn't have Leonard's stupid eyebrows. There were some features of her mother, Marissa, also. It was interesting yet bizarre to see what became of their daughter.

Maybe if Penny could've given a child to Leonard, would their own daughter look a little similar to Abby?

But she couldn't think about that. It wouldn't happen anyway. They were in their fifties. Penny had no regrets not having children of her own. She only felt bad for her husband who would never get to have any, but he also made the agreement with her to not have children. So, that made her felt less guilty. It was the ups and downs of parenting they witnessed changed Leonard's mind while Sheldon, Amy, Howard, Bernadette, Raj, and Varsha were raising their children. Parenting was a lot of work, Penny knew that.

"Oh, nothing. We're just talking," Zack waved it off. "Hey, Leonard, why don't you tell Abby what you do for work? She might be interested."

"I work for Caltech University as an experimental physicist."

"Really? That's cool," Abby said.

"Do you like science?" Leonard secretly hoped she did.

"It's okay, I guess. I mean, it's one of my favorite classes." She shrugged, and looked curiously at his wife.

"Weren't you into astronomy before?" Zack wondered.

"Yeah, like, a long time ago." When she was only ten in fact, and outer space had her so immensely fascinated.

"If you still are, I have a friend who's an astrophysicist who can show you what he does." Leonard said.

"Thanks, but no thanks." She politely declined.

"Really? Taking a tour of that university might change your idea on a career path. It wouldn't hurt to look." Zack suggested.

"It doesn't have to be about astronomy cause like he said I can give you a tour of what I do on a daily basis." Leonard was hopeful that she'd take on his offer.

Abby really didn't want to, but because of peer pressure and to please her father, she accepted his invitation anyway.

"Uh...okay. Sure?" Abby replied in a voice that wasn't so convincing.

"Really?" Leonard beamed, and so did Zack.

"Cool. So, when do you want to start this thing?" Her father asked.

"Maybe next Friday after school if that's alright with you?"

"It's fine with me. How about you, Abs?"

"It's fine..." She muttered wanting to disappear.

Abby looked at his wife to ask her a question only to not be the center of the conversation. "What about you, Penny? What do you do for work?"

"I'm a pharmaceutical sales representative. Not that cool like Leonard's, I know. Originally, I wanted to be an actress, but it didn't work out like I hoped."

"That is a tough industry. How did all of you know each other?"

"Well, it's a funny story actually-" Zack chuckled, but Penny interrupted him to explain first instead of him.

"Years ago, your Dad and I used to date-"

"And then we got married in Vegas." Zack added making Penny and Leonard annoyed that he mentioned it.

"Wait. What?!" Abby freaked out. That was totally new information to her. Her brown eyes looked back and forth at Penny and her father. "How can you be dumb enough to marry in Vegas? That's so cliche! And you know those weddings are real?"

"That's what I said." Leonard said which Penny gave him a look for.

"Don't worry. We got a divorce." Zack told her as if it should've made everything better.

"Well, obviously." Abby rolled her eyes.

She suddenly had a different perspective of Penny. She never knew about the history between Penny and her father. Of course, her father was able to have other relationships before her mother. It just became weird and uncomfortable for her to see one of her father's ex-girlfriend. Ex-_wife_, rather.

Abby never thought she could want to leave a place so desperately.

"We thought it was fake at first, but it turned out it wasn't." Penny said.

"Yeah, so you better not do the same thing we did." Zack warned her.

"Of course, I won't. I'm not _that_ stupid, and I'm only fifteen."

Zack and Leonard felt relieved.

_I didn't have my first kiss yet,_ Abby thought being depressed about the issue. _Even Chloe had hers._

"Hey, Leonard. Our food is here." Penny glanced behind her to their table.

"Huh?" He turned around to see for himself, and then back to Zack and Abby. A part of him didn't want to leave because of Abby, but knew he had to. "Oh, yeah, it is..."

"We should get the check anyway. Right, Dad?" In her mind, she was begging for him to let them leave.

"Yeah, you're right. It was nice seeing you again. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, we should." Penny agreed half heartedly.

"Bye, guys."

"Bye, and I won't forget about next Friday." Leonard said.

"Neither will we." Zack agreed, and Abby gave him a look.

Leonard and Penny left them, and went to their table while Abby called their waiter to get the check. While they were eating, Penny thought about Abby's reaction to getting a tour of Leonard's workplace.

"It seems that we do have some things in common," Leonard said brightly as he ate. "We both played instruments. I played the cello and she did the violin."

"And the piano that she liked better," Penny added. "So?"

"They're both stringed instruments. Hers was less nerdy than mine. And she gets carsick, too, like I do. She's not wearing any glasses, so she might have good eyesight from Marissa. I wonder if she's lactose intolerant and has asthma like I do. Maybe I should've asked..."

"Yeah, cause that wouldn't be weird for her, right?" Penny asked sarcastically. "I don't think you showing Abby around Caltech is such a good idea."

"Why not?" He was confused.

"Haven't you seen her face? It clearly looked like she didn't want to do it."

"Abby might change her mind. Sometimes teenagers don't know what they really want as a career. Why are you ruining this for me?"

Penny stopped eating, feeling offended. "What am I ruining exactly?"

"For me getting to know more about Abby, but it's like you want to stop it."

"Unlike you and Zack, I noticed how she felt about it. I can appreciate wanting you to know more about her, but you have to let her go sometime. Abby clearly has no idea who you are to her, and it's better that way. She is Zack's daughter, not yours. I think you're doing this more for yourself than for her."

"So, what should I do? Should I just text Zack, and cancel it? Maybe _you're_ the one who's more bothered by it."

Penny rolled her eyes getting irritated with him. She resumed eating her dinner. "Whatever. Sorry that I cared about Abby."

They ate their dinner in silence, and with tension filled in between them.


	5. Chapter 5

Michael was discreetly watching Abby Johnson who was by her locker reading her notes over. The first thing he noticed about her was how so beautiful she was. It was as if it's love at first sight. He knew her name was Abby because of what Caroline and Padma reported about her to him.

There was other information he knew about her such as she moved here with her father. She had a best friend named Chloe at her other school. She was the smartest one in their grade (maybe in the whole school) besides Caroline and Arthur. Caroline felt threatened because she didn't want anyone to possibly be the Valedictorian. He was sure that Abby was single, never had a boyfriend before.

Michael was interested if she'd be into him.

"What's caught your attention, man?" One of Michael's friends, Brian Reynolds, asked him. He was taller than Michael, standing with him. "You've zoned out on us."

His other friend, Derek Fleming, looked at the direction where Michael was staring. Then his green eyes looked back to Brian to clarify. "Arthur says he has a thing for Abby."

Michael turned his head to him with a raised eyebrow. "He didn't say it like that though, right?" He knew that didn't sound like Arthur.

"No. He said something like your teenage hormones are impelling you to lust after Abby and copulate with her." Derek recalled.

"That's not my only intention for her." Michael said, shaking his head.

"Really? Weren't you the one who didn't want to graduate and die as a virgin?" Brian asked.

"Neither does anyone else including yourselves, admit it," He countered. "And it's not lust."

"It's not love either." Derek denied.

Michael gave him a look. He knew what he felt for her that was different than any other girl. "Who are you to judge?"

"You don't even know her." He bluntly replied.

"I can!" Michael persisted.

"Then start." Brian challenged with a smirk.

Michael knew Brian well enough that he'd love to see Michael make a fool out of himself to a girl.

"I don't know what to say..." It was like he's at a loss.

"Wow," Derek was amazed. "You, Michael Wolowitz, lost your ability to flirt with girls? This must be serious."

It was true.

Usually, Michael would have no problem talking to girls. He could have flirted with anyone. He even attempted to with one of Halley's friends. But then they'd be disturbed and grossed out which didn't stop him. It was more like a fun challenge. Sometimes, a few girls would like his flirtatious ways, and they'd be as much as a tease to him. Unfortunately, it didn't get him anywhere.

This time, it only took one glance at a girl to get his full attention. It made him act as if he had no idea how to talk to a girl properly. He couldn't picture Abby as if she was any of the girls he knew like Halley, Caroline, or Padma. He was looking for more than a friendship. Not someone to sleep with for a one night stand.

"I bet she won't even go out with you anyway." Brian doubted.

"You think so?" Michael couldn't believe he didn't have any faith that they could actually work out. He had to disagree. "I bet that she will."

"You're on," He smirked. "Say loser has to pay twenty bucks?"

"Fine by me." He accepted, and boldly approached to Abby.

Derek looked at Brian with amusement while Michael left.

"I saw what you did there."

"You know him," Brian chuckled. "He loves a good challenge."

"Smart."

Michael went to Abby who was reading her history notes apparently.

"Hi there." He greeted smoothly, but it was like she didn't even notice he was there.

It was almost like how Caroline and Arthur studied. They were completely absorbed in it. Everyone and everything had faded into oblivion.

"Uh...hello? Abby?"

When he called her name, that was when she snapped out of it, and stared at him strangely. He noticed that she was wearing lip gloss and mascara, and wondered if she always wore that to school on a daily basis. Since she was a grade below him, it was rare they would see each other. He liked the smell that was a flowery perfume on her that he identified as lavender.

"How do you know my name?" Abby asked.

"A friend of mine told me. Caroline Cooper, you know her, right?"

"Yeah. She seems nice."

"Yeah...so, I couldn't help, but noticing you earlier, and I was wondering..." Michael knew that he hadn't planned any of it out beforehand like he normally would. He would've been way more charming than using a plain delivery. It was like he's almost speechless. "If you're interested in going out with me?"

Abby blinked twice in shock. That was definitely unexpected. Back at her other school, no boys would have ever walked up to her with bold and confidence to ask her out. She believed she wasn't like the other girls who were beautiful.

Abby did examine him. He was a thin sixteen year old with brown hair that was in a disheveled bowl cut style, and he had blue eyes. They seem to be at the same height. He wasn't Tyler Marshall handsome, but Abby hated to admit the boy in front of her was slightly cute.

She didn't know what to do. She always dreamed of having a boyfriend, but now when the opportunity was in front of her, she became scared all of a sudden. Maybe something else was up. He couldn't be serious. No one could ever like her.

"Sorry...I-I have a boyfriend." Abby answered sheepishly, and didn't look at him. To not see his rejected reaction.

Michael knew better than to believe that. It was obvious that she was lying. The signs were there; Abby avoided eye contact, she stuttered, and didn't sound convincing.

"Really?" He decided to humor her, and play along with her game. His arms were crossed. "What's his name?"

"Uh..." Abby quickly thought of the first male name that came to her mind. "John...Doe...?" She answered lamely, and knew that was a total lie.

"You used the most anonymous name of all names?" He teased. "Why?"

"Having a boyfriend is not on my top five list right now."

"As much as I'd be flattered to be your boyfriend, I just simply want to go out with you. No status relationship required." He assured. He honestly wanted to date her, but if he had laid it out carefully like that, maybe she would've been more accepting.

For Abby, there was some of the pressure off her, but still felt uncomfortable and uncertain.

"I don't know..."

"Why not?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't even know you or your name."

Michael felt like a complete idiot that he hadn't told her his name. He mentally kicked himself.

"Middle name, Michael, first name, Neil. I mostly get called Michael after my grandfather. Michael Wolowitz."

He saw the blatant confusion on her face, and she cocked her head to the side.

"Why?"

"My Mom's choice." He shrugged as if he couldn't help with the naming decision.

"Not _your_ choice?"

"I don't mind."

"My first name is Abby, but I guess you already knew that. Heh..." She made a breathy and awkward chuckle. "My middle name is Eleanor. After my grandmother."

"That's nice." He complimented.

_Abigail Eleanor Johnson, _Michael thought, and even took it far as repeating the name in his head, _Abigail Eleanor Wolowitz. Oh, yeah. Sounds much better._

"Thanks." She made a shy smile at him.

"Why don't we be friends first, and see where it takes off? Give you some time to think about it?"

Abby would like to have a new friend at the school. She sort of considered Caroline and Padma as friends. The dating, boyfriend, or whatever it could be was off the table at the moment. She considered to being friends with him.

"Sure. I like that instead." Abby agreed making his face lit up.

"Really? That's great. So...um...we're friends now. Right?" Michael hated how stupid his voice was sounding now.

"Right." She confirmed with a nod.

Suddenly, the bell rang for their next class.

"Well, I have to go. Bye, Michael." Abby said, and he watched her go. He swore he saw her blushing.

His friends approached to him from behind eagerly waiting to hear the news.

"Well? What happened?" Derek asked wanting the details.

"Did I win?" Brian assumed, ready to gloat.

"Not really, but neither did I," The two other boys exchanged confused glances at each other. Michael turned around to face them. "Abby said she'll think about it."

"That usually means a no." Derek said.

"Not for her, I don't think so," Michael shook his head, remembering that Abby blushed at him. "But I might have a chance with her someday," He never felt so hopeful about a girl before then he said dreamily, his eyes and mind elsewhere. "Our children will be smart and beautiful."

Brian looked at Derek as if he was crazy. Neither of them saw Michael act like this way toward a girl before.

"Looks like he lost it."

* * *

In the Wolowitz household after school, Michael was in his bedroom completely invested in playing his video game using his PlayStation 6.

His short and blonde mother entered into her youngest son's bedroom. She crossed her arms as she leaned against the doorway.

"Have you done your homework?" Bernadette asked the typical Mom question in her mousy voice similar to Halley's.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Michael answered distractedly.

"Did you?" She was skeptical.

He sighed in annoyance. "Yes, Mom."

"Okay. Hey, can you turn that thing off or pause it, whatever?"

Michael had paused his game.

"What?" He asked curiously wanting to know what his mother wanted.

Bernadette went to sit at the edge of Michael's bed, and patted on the empty spot next to her, so he could sit. Michael got up from his navy blue bean bag chair, and joined her.

"Would you like to help your mother with something?"

"Depends..." He drifted off unsurely.

"Well, there's this new boss that I have who I'm trying to be on his good side for a promotion. I've been meaning to get my hands on this new project. It would really be a huge favor for me if you'd date his daughter, Leah, and give a good word about me."

"Are you serious?" Michael thought his mother was unbelievable for her request.

"Yeah," Bernadette answered, nodding her head. "It would be nice if you'd take Lila out on some fall dance at her school. She doesn't have a date, and it's not hard to imagine why. The poor girl has acne, and she lost weight, apparently."

"You've met her before?"

"No. I saw her on my boss's family picture that was on his desk."

"First, you said her name was Leah, then it was Lila. Which one is it?" He was confused.

"I don't know," She replied uncaring. "Starts something with an L, I guess."

"How can I meet this girl when we go to different schools?" Michael wondered.

"Don't worry about it. I already set you two up." Bernadette smiled as if she accomplished something.

"Really?" He was shocked. He didn't know whether to be shocked or a little peeved. That she already went ahead to let the girl know he'd take her to the dance.

"Yeah. My boss said she had no one to take her to the dance, and I volunteered you to take her."

"But Mom..." He whined.

"Don't 'but Mom' to me, mister," She said firmly to him. "Don't forget I gave birth to you. Your head was the size of a cantaloupe."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Both of his parents always reflected and made fun of how big of a head he had as an infant. His mother had to get stitches from the birth. "I can't date her. I already like another girl at school, and I think she might like me. Eventually." Michael added quickly because he was still unsure how Abby truly felt.

"You have plenty of time to date whoever that girl is, or if it'll be someone else in the future. Also, she needs to go through _me_ first if she's good enough for you."

"Not Dad, too?"

"No, you'll know how he'll be. He'll congratulate you for getting the girl, and want you to get lucky," She rolled her eyes at her husband's predictable behavior. Howard was completely the opposite when it came to Halley and boys. He was more protective of their daughter. It was extremely difficult for Halley when she had her first break up at sixteen. "What's her name, anyway? Just so I can know ahead of time."

Michael smiled, and answered in a dreamy voice. "Abigail Eleanor Johnson. She smelled like the fields of lavender. Her eyes are deep pools of dark cinnamon swirls, and her hair was down in chocolate waves, perfectly complimenting her creamy complexion."

The name was very familiar to her. She remembered when Leonard was the sperm donor for Zack Johnson and his wife's baby. But it couldn't have been the same Abigail Johnson her son had fallen for, was it? Leonard told them the full name, and proudly showed the newborn baby picture on his phone as if she was his own legally.

Bernadette gave her son an odd look at his detailed description. "I think you shouldn't be around Uncle Raj so much. For now, you have Lauren - or whatever her name is - to see on this Saturday at five in your favorite restaurant that's Del Taco. Get to know each other."

To meet the girl at Del Taco had caught his interest because he's been hungry for Mexican food. It's totally better than Chipotle, that's for sure.

Michael knew better than to say no to his mother.

"Fine." He sighed, giving in.

"Good," Bernadette brightly approved. "You were always my favorite son."

"I'm your only son." He pointed out.

"Which makes all the more favorite."

Later, in the kitchen was where Bernadette was cooking dinner for her family. Howard entered, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey, my wife for life," He greeted her, and right away, Bernadette knew with that kind of gesture and compliment, he wanted something. "What's for dinner?"

How typical.

Bernadette could've rolled her eyes.

"Chicken a la king."

"Sounds yummy," Then Howard let go of Bernadette's waist to let her move around the kitchen to cook. "Did you know that Halley is considering to apply to MIT?"

"Aw, really?" Bernadette smiled and said sweetly. "Looks like she wants to follow in her Daddy's footsteps."

Howard was excited. "I hope so."

Howard and Bernadette laughed at that.

She put the hot and steamy food in a casserole dish, and put it in the dining room where the table was already set and prepared to eat.

"You want to know what I found out that was interesting about our son?" Bernadette asked him.

Howard hesitated for a moment to think what it could be. "Michael doesn't have dirty mags under his bed, does he?"

Bernadette stared at him as if he was ridiculous. "No! He's not a perv like you are!"

"Hey, he's a part of me, so there's a huge chance. Also, he's a teenager."

"He has a crush on a girl named, Abby Johnson. I think it might be Zack's daughter how he talked about her."

"You know how common the last name Johnson is, right?" Howard raised an eyebrow.

"I know, but he even said her full name. Abigail Eleanor Johnson, remember it? Cause I still remember it. Penny said that Eleanor was Zack's mother's name. I'm not sure if it could be really her, but it sounds close. If it is, I hate lying to Michael." Bernadette frowned.

"What are we lying about?" He was confused.

"All the kids believe that Leonard and Penny don't have children."

"And they don't." Howard said obviously.

"But Leonard does...technically. Should we tell Michael about her? I know he can keep it a secret."

"No. If the girl Michael really likes is Abby, she is only Zack's daughter. That's all that should matter. Abby doesn't know about who Leonard is to her as far as I know. Also, it wouldn't be fair if only he knew about Abby's parentage, and she didn't. That's all they need to know. We're not keeping anything from them." Howard reasoned.

Bernadette thought about it.

"I guess you're right."


	6. Chapter 6

Abby followed the other students in her grade to Chemistry class. Mr. Sherwood was going to have them do a lab experiment today. To the students' disappointment, he was the one to assign partners.

She recognized Caroline when she got her partner.

"Caroline, you will be paired with Ryder."

Abby could tell he was the 'bad boy' type in the school. Ryder Trent had the punk rock style of clothing, and she noticed that he always wore his black leather jacket. He carried himself as being apathetic, but in a cool way, and was quiet. Most of the girls saw him as mysterious. Ryder's fashion was the complete opposite from Caroline's wardrobe. She was possibly the only girl in school who dressed extremely modest, but still had stylish taste that was appropriate for her age.

Caroline's face fell into one of horror and despair. "You've got to be kidding me...a _degenerate_...?!" She muttered.

The other students got paired with each other, and then Abby heard her own name.

"Arthur, you will be paired with Abby."

He was Caroline's twin brother. Arthur and his sister were both tall, a lot taller than her. He even had some admirers who longed to be partnered with him. A couple of them sighed at their loss that neither of them were his partner. Arthur was handsome in a cute and geeky way, Abby understood why girls fell for him, but he apparently never noticed them. It was like he's clueless to the girls' attention.

Arthur went to sit with Abby at the lab table at the back of the class.

"Hello." Arthur greeted her.

"Hello." She greeted back to him.

"How do you like this school so far?" Arthur asked Abby conversationally.

"It's fine. I think I know my way around without asking anyone else for directions."

"Met any new friends yet?"

"There's your sister, she's nice," Then Abby added to be safe. "I'm not just saying that because she's your sister."

"No worries. I know Caroline can be sometimes hard to get along with. Her and our father are known for being alike. You've probably heard of my parents."

Abby thought that to be untrue, but she had to ask. "Who are they?"

"Dr. Sheldon and Amy Cooper. They're 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureates for asymmetric string theory." Arthur answered proudly.

"Oh, yes, I've read about that," Abby said in delight as her face beamed. "I've loved reading your parent's work. I didn't know you were related to them. It must be very cool that both of your parents got Nobels."

"Yes, it is. They were honored, and greatly deserved it. I'm surprised that you've heard about them. Whenever I mention it to anyone else, they're totally clueless. They can know everything about a celebrity, but can't even memorize the simplest things like the periodic table. It's quite sad what the world has become to."

"Well, I like science, and sometimes like to keep up what's happening in the science field."

"At least there's some hope for the future of humanity. What do your parents do?"

Abby liked to believe Arthur had asked that only to carry on the conversation, but she couldn't help to have felt bad that her parents never accomplished anything grand and special like that before.

"My Mom works for a business company, and moved to San Fransisco. My Dad is retired." She answered. It was incomparable to what his parents have done, and it was as if it made her own insignificant.

"Your parents live separately?" He asked sounding a little confused.

"Yeah, they've...ummm...divorced. Recently." She answered, and didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"Oh, my apologies-"

"It's okay, you didn't know. Let's get started on this work, shall we?" Abby quickly diverted from their conversation to the task at hand.

Caroline was surprised as she observed what Ryder was doing because he did a better job than what she had expected. They were doing the experiment together, and Ryder knew exactly what to do. He wrote down the balanced chemical equation.

"How do you know so much about this?" Caroline was impressed.

"You sound shocked." Ryder said while he was writing.

"I didn't think you actually know anything because..." Caroline paused herself. She was hesitant to say something that might've been offensive.

"Because...?" He drifted off, and waited for what she had to say.

"You just seem to be a vacuous dullard like everyone else around here. Except for my brother, of course." Caroline answered not being ashamed for telling the truth. He was the one who wanted to know, anyway.

"So, you judge me before you get to know me? You think you and your brother are the only smart ones around here, huh?"

"Yes, of course." She answered in an obvious way.

Caroline had been in the school for years to know that there was not anyone else like her and her twin brother. There were far too many idiots running around. She never knew Ryder actually had a brain; he never raised his hand to answer questions before. He always seemed like he didn't care about school or education.

He shook his head disliking her attitude. "You know it alls are so full of yourselves, aren't you?"

Then Ryder went back to work on the project.

Caroline ignored what he said. "You didn't answer my first question."

"Does it really matter?" He asked being annoyed.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? With the amount of idiocy that's seen around here on a regular basis, I was starting to lose hope. I see that you're...different. To repeat my first question from before, how do you know so much about this?"

Ryder decided to forgive her by answering it. "My grandfather was a Chemistry professor at Harvard before he retired. He taught me everything he knew so I won't end up like my dead beat Dad."

Caroline nodded in acknowledgement. "I see...well, it appears I've underestimated you."

"Looks like you were wrong about something." He smirked.

She hated to be wrong about anything. "Hopefully, it will be the last time."

"How long have you and Caroline known Michael?" Abby asked while they're still working on their experiment.

"Michael who?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Michael _Wolowitz_." She specified.

"Since we were infants. Our parents are close-knitted friends, so it only made sense for us to be raised together, and have that same friendship. You might be flattered to know that he's infatuated with you."

"I know. He asked me out, but I rejected his proposal. We're still friends." She added positively.

"It's probably good for you to reject him when he was looking for coitus." Arthur said, but then winced at the words he blurted out by accident.

"Wait...what?" Abby narrowed her eyes at him, their work was forgotten.

"Coitus as in-"

"I know what that means, Arthur. Is that true about Michael?"

"I may have misspoken-"

"No, you didn't," Abby angrily interrupted, and muttered. "I think I know what you mean."

She berated herself for believing someone like Michael Wolowitz could've genuinely fallen for her without any negative intentions. Abby wouldn't let herself get used by a guy again. Once she let Tyler used her for her intelligence when she tutored him. She won't let Michael use her in bed.

After a couple of classes later, lunch was about to start, but Arthur's steps was urgent as he's looking alarmed. He approached to Michael in the hallway. Michael's eyes observed him up and down.

"What's wrong with you? Did Nate and his gang bully you again?" He assumed.

"No, and thank goodness I didn't run into them. It's about Abby. I may have caused a minor problem when I spoke to her..."

"Like what?" Michael groaned sounding annoyed, knowing he's not so good with girls. Even though girls apparently liked him a lot, but he was too oblivious that it always gave Michael second hand embarrassment. Especially, when the girls would flirt with Arthur.

"Well, I hope you can see it as a mistake on my part because it really was-"

"Get on with it, Arthur." Michael impatiently interrupted.

"I'm afraid I revealed your desire to have coitus with her." At least he had the decency to bow his head in shame.

"What?!" Michael exclaimed feeling betrayed. "Why would you do that?"

"I honestly never meant to have said it. It was...word vomit like my cousin would say."

"Now, she's going to hate me and want nothing to do with me." He groaned again, but the second time was more out of disappointment.

Arthur frowned at his best friend's pessimism. "I wouldn't be so dramatic. It's like Aunt Penny always says to Halley, there are plenty more fish in the sea."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't want Abby to hate me, and think I'm that kind of guy which I'm not," Michael gave Arthur a look. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you any of my secrets ever again."

Arthur was offended. "In my defense, it wasn't exactly clear you wanted that as a secret from Abby. This was one of the few times I've exposed you by accident. Only one was on purpose."

"Oh, yeah, you've told my parents I was going to a college frat party," Michael remembered. "I was invited, and it was at one of Derek's older brother's college. We were going to go together."

"Yes, but if you've gone there, who knows what might've happened? You would've been hazed, got drunk, taken drugs, and probably had a one night stand you'll regret later. I saved your life. You're welcome."

Michael rolled his eyes at Arthur's predictions. "I wouldn't do any of those things."

"Maybe not, but the power of peer pressure is strong, Michael," He seriously told him. "I haven't told anyone else about your secrets. For example, I never told anyone that you don't like Aunt Penny's cooking, and I don't blame you because neither do I. Also, when you lied to Uncle Howard that you like Neil Diamond, but you actually don't. See? I can be very trustworthy."

"Sometimes." Michael disagreed, and Arthur didn't argue with him there.

* * *

On a Friday after school, Abby was taken to Caltech by Zack so she could get a tour of the university. Leonard would be the one to show her around, and he was delighted to do it. He introduced her to the different departments, centers, and labs.

"How was school today?" Leonard asked her as they walked down a hallway.

"It was great. There was no homework so yay." There was a little smile on her face.

"That would be a plus," Leonard replied. "How is that going? Have good friends? A boyfriend?"

"School is good. I actually like it. I met some new friends since I moved. There is no boyfriend for me right now." Abby tried not to sound too disappointed about that. It was her choice to still remain single, and to turn down Michael which turned out to be a good decision after all.

"Don't worry about that. My first girlfriend was in college."

"Seriously?" She couldn't help herself to sound shocked. Leonard did gave Abby nerdy vibes.

Abby didn't know if she could wait that long to start dating.

"Yeah." He answered.

"How did you and Penny met each other?" Abby wondered because of how that was such an unlikely pairing. A gorgeous woman married a man like Leonard.

"We were neighbors at an apartment we used to live. We were friends, dated on and off for a while, and then, got married."

"Do you have any kids?"

"No," Leonard answered even though it was the opposite. But now it wasn't the time to tell her the truth. As if there was ever a time he's allowed to. "No kids for us. Just happily married. The two of us."

"Must be nice." She said thoughtfully.

He shrugged. "You get used to it. I wanted kids, but my wife didn't."

"Shouldn't you have talked about that before getting married?" She raised an eyebrow.

"i know. We have been told that before. So, we compromised."

"How did you do that?" Abby knew she was being nosy, but she was genuinely curious how they could've worked that out.

Now that Abby was older, Leonard thought to reveal who he was to her. Would that have changed anything? Would Abby see him any differently? It was something he debated about if it should be a good idea. Maybe he could discuss it with Penny first and then Zack.

"There was this couple who's great friends of ours. They couldn't have children, so they asked me to be their sperm donor. Penny, my wife, and I had long talks about this, and she eventually let me. I gave them their child with mine and the mother's DNA. Technically, I have a child of my own." Leonard explained.

He hadn't mentioned anything about her or her family exactly, but in a way, it was about her. It pained him that she couldn't even know anything.

"Wow. That's very nice and sweet what you did," She smiled. "Do you still keep in touch with them?"

He couldn't to help to smile knowing she was the child. "Sometimes. What about you? Ever thought about your future like marriage and children?"

"I think about it sometimes. I'd like to get married. After college, you know. And have kids. _Maybe_."

"What would you do in your free time?"

"I'd draw, read, play a bit of Sims..."

"What do you read?"

"Just about anything. I'm really into manga and anime. I practice drawing the characters, but I'm not that good at it."

"I used to watch anime. Have you read any comic books?"

"No. I'm not really into superheroes and that kind of thing. I especially don't want to see grown men in tights and briefs." She shook her head.

Leonard understood the last part, but he was a little disappointed that she wasn't. He supposed most girls her age weren't into comic books like that.

"So, have you ever thought what you want to do after you've graduated?"

She lazily shrugged. "Not sure yet. Maybe a graphic designer. My Dad had this menu company once, and it was the designs that got me interested, but I'm not sure."

"That's okay. You're young yet so you still have some time to think about it. Well, here's my lab." Leonard said as they entered the room, and he felt proud to show it off for her.

"Wow," Abby looked around to observe. She looked at his equipment that it seemed to be what he was working on. "This is very cool. What made you decide to become a scientist?" Abby asked him.

"I guess I was always interested in science. When I was a child, I grew up on watching Professor Proton. It was a science kid's show."

"Was it anything like Bill Nye the Science Guy? That's what my parents and middle school showed me."

"Yeah, it is, but way better. Both of my parents were scientists, so I was led to that direction."

"What did they do?"

"My mother is an analytical neuroscientist and psychiatrist. My father is an anthropologist. Has any of the departments piqued your interest?"

"Yeah, but nothing I would do for a career, I think. I'm actually not that interested in science like my parents want me to be. Honestly, I never wanted to be here, but I'm kinda glad I came in a way."

_So, Penny was right, _Leonard thought remembering their little argument. He would have to tell Penny that her observation was correct, and apologize for his attitude. He was too excited to meet, and get to know Abby for the first time in years.

"That's good. This can give you something to think about."

"Maybe."

There was a long pause that filled the room.

Leonard wanted to ask Abby more questions, but he wondered if that'd be too invasive and personal. They hardly know each other, and this was just the start. So far, all he knew about her was that she's single, played instruments, hated sushi, was a dancer at a young age, a drawer, loves manga, and anime. A selfish part of him desired to know more, but knew they couldn't open themselves up to each other yet. All she saw him as was a friend of her father's, and that's it.

Maybe that was for the best.

Since Leonard showed Abby most of the university, he had another idea where to take her.

"A friend of mine, Raj, is going to start his Planetarium show soon. Would you like to see it? It shouldn't be that long."

"Sure. What does he do?"

"He's an astrophysicist. This is one of the jobs he's been having for a long time now."

* * *

"I'm Rajesh Koothrapali, and thank you for taking a walk with me...to the stars."

The audience applauded as the lights turned on after Raj's presentation.

"Will the two of you wake up!" Halley harshly told her little brother and their best friend, Tanay Koothrapali, in her squeaky voice. She roughly nudged them both at their sides.

The two boys groaned in pain, and immediately woke up at the contact.

"What? Is it over yet?" Michael was hopeful. He already saw the presentation before a thousand times just like Tanay. It was like going to the school's assemblies, and listen to the principal's droning.

"Yes!" His older sister hissed. "Oh, god, you're so gross! I think you've drooled on your shirt!"

"No, I haven't!" He argued.

"Kids, knock it off." Their father, Howard, scolded them.

"Sorry, Daddy." Halley instantly apologized looking sweet and innocent.

Tanay chuckled at the Wolowitz siblings.

Howard's face softened at her, and went to meet his Indian friend. Halley gave her little brother a smug look that she had won their father over.

"He loves me more since I'm the firstborn and the favorite. His little princess." She flaunted.

"Let's see how much Dad will love his _little princess_," Michael had mocked the endearing term. "When he'll find out you've been secretly using his money to buy gas."

Halley narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't. You. Dare."

Neither Michael or Tanay were intimidated by her death glare. Halley always had Howard wrapped around her finger since she was a toddler. But she knew better to do something like that to her mother because somehow she would always find a way that it was her.

Tanay walked closer to her using his charm. He knew it'll get her mad. "You know, you look sexy when you're all hot and bothered."

"Ugh!" Halley grunted in disgust, and went to their fathers.

"Thanks, man." Michael said gratefully that she went away from them.

"No problem. It's too easy." He smirked.

"How did you like the presentation?" Leonard asked Abby as they got up from their seats.

"It was very educational. The special effects was cool even though I did get a little motion sickness from the stars moving." Abby answered.

"Yeah, that happens to me, too. I'll introduce you to him," Leonard said, and they walked up to Raj, Howard and Halley. "Hey, guys. This is Abby Johnson. Zack and Marissa's daughter, remember? I was just giving her a tour around Caltech, and thought it'd be nice to show what you do here, Raj."

"So, _you're_ Abby, huh?" Howard asked trying to not sound so surprised. He remembered the conversation he had with Bernadette about Michael falling for her.

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, I'm Howard Wolowitz, by the way. This is my daughter, Halley." He introduced his eldest child to her who was about the same height as him.

Abby thought Halley was a pretty blonde, and she felt tall compared to her.

"Hi." She greeted her.

"Hi," Halley said friendly. "You may know my stupid brother. I think you go to the same school as we do."

"I do." She confirmed not being too happy about that fact.

"Where are they, anyway?" Raj asked looking around for their sons.

"What are you guys doing here?" Leonard asked Howard.

"Well, Bernie is going to be working late, so we've planned to go out to eat together after this was over." He answered.

Michael and Tanay approached to the group. Michael was surprised to see Abby there with them. He knew what Arthur accidentally told her, and was a little worried she might not want anything to do with him. But he still had hope that Abby wouldn't cut him out of his life forever.

"So, we meet again?" He flirted to her. "Must be destiny."

"Don't be such a creep to her, Mikey," Halley scolded him. She looked at her with sympathy. "Sorry you have to deal with him."

"Thanks." Abby said giving him a look.

"Abby, this is my son, Tanay, and I'm Raj. It's very nice to meet you." Raj introduced pleasantly.

"Hi." The thirteen year old teenager greeted to her.

"It's nice to meet you," Abby said to him, and looked at Raj. "I've enjoyed your presentation. It was very interesting and educational. I also like your accent."

Abby faintly remembered Padma saying she had little siblings. She was pretty sure Padma mentioned she had two younger siblings. Tanay and a little sister.

"Thank you. I come from the exotic subcontinent of India." He said smugly.

"I've been there before," Tanay told her in a bored voice shaking his head. "And it's not _that_ exotic."

Raj gave his son a look.

"So, Leonard tells me you're an astrophysicist."

"Yes, I am. I fell in love with Astronomy when I was in Cambridge University. I'd say one of my big accomplishments was being on the People Magazine once in '30 Under 30 to Watch' for my discovery of a planetary object beyond the Kuiper belt, 2008 NQ17. I call it, the Planet Bollywood."

"You were in the People Magazine?" Abby was surprised. "That's so cool!"

"If you want to talk about cool, I'm an engineer and an astronaut who's been in space." Howard bragged.

"What did you do?"

"Well..."

"Here we go..." Halley mumbled to her brother. Both of them were tired of hearing about it multiple times.

"I built a zero gravity waste disposal system." Howard answered.

"That's nice." Abby complimented.

"Maybe you kids can talk for a while before your Dad comes, Abby." Leonard suggested.

The adults mostly talked to each other while Abby felt comfortable talking to Halley. Michael and Tanay were together as usual. After some time passed, Leonard delivered Abby to her father at the entrance of the university to pick her up, and take her home.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I wanted Leonard and Abby's conversation to be longer, but I didn't know the right questions to ask that'd be appropriate for their first meeting. I'll have them meet again in future chapters and have their relationship progress. I hope all of you like this chapter and please review! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Zack and Abby thanked Leonard for the tour he did. They were in the car going home.

"So, what did you think of Caltech?"' Her father asked.

"I liked it," Abby answered. "Leonard seems cool and nice."

"He is. He's, like, the smartest person I know." He raved.

To hear that from him was like a huge compliment. Abby knew some of her parent's friends, and they didn't seem that smart like Leonard and his friends were.

"I thought about hanging out together again like we did at that restaurant."

"I don't have to go, do I?" Abby hoped not.

As much as she liked Leonard, and his wife, Penny, it would just be a boring dinner with them talking. It didn't sound like an event Abby would care much for.

"No, you don't have to if you don't want to."

Abby was relieved. "Oh, good, cause I definitely don't want to," Then she asked a little nervous. "Are-are you going to bring anyone with you?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe. It would suck being the third wheel."

Abby supposed that he could. Even though it's been a month since her parents got a divorce. It wouldn't be too soon for her father to date someone, wouldn't it? The divorce seemed mutual even though feelings were hurt which was to be expected. She would love to see both of her parents move on and be happy. Even being in a new relationship. Abby would have to grow accustom with that one, but as long as her parents were happy and in love with someone else, then so be it.

"I think you should go with someone."

Zack was surprised to hear that. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, it can be a double date. I wouldn't mind if you and Mom met someone else new."

"You wouldn't? I've been thinking about it, but I wouldn't if you're not okay with that."

"Why do you need my approval?" She was confused.

"So, you can get along with whoever I'm dating, and that you wouldn't hate me for it." Zack explained which made her understand better.

"Well, I'm fine with it. Sure it won't be easy for me for a while, but...I want to see you and Mom happy and in love again. Even if it's not with each other."

Zack couldn't believe how selfless his daughter was.

"Thanks, AJ." He smiled being proud of her.

* * *

Leonard was cooking dinner for himself and Penny. Sometimes he would do it when Penny wouldn't be in the mood which was almost always. She hated to cook, but she was trying to get better at it.

Penny entered into the kitchen wearing comfortable and loose fitting clothes. She smelled the food her husband was making, and that made her mouth water and her stomach growl in hunger.

"You almost finish? Cause I'm starving." Penny asked.

"Yeah, I am." Leonard answered as he set the casserole dish on their small round table.

That was the perfect size for the two of them. Their other bigger table was in the dining room which was mostly used for guests.

"Here we go. Bon appetit." He said once everything was out and ready to be eaten.

The table was already prepared with their plates, forks, knives, napkins, and drinks. They began eating, and Leonard knew what he wanted to talk to her about.

"So, you know I took Abby a tour at the university, right?" He began.

"Yeah," Penny remembered while chewing her food. "How'd that go by the way?"

"It went well. She really liked it, but you were right about her."

"What?" Penny asked.

"That she wasn't really into science or any of that stuff. It seemed to me that she didn't know what to do yet. So, I'm sorry. You were right, and I was wrong. I just wanted to do it for my own selfish reasons." Leonard apologized.

"Leonard, I understand why you want to know Abby more, but you can't by keep butting into her life like that. She has no idea who you are to her, and it's better that way. Imagine if she does, and what will she think of everyone? Her actual parents? You? If she will know, it will be like her life turned upside down."

"I know," Leonard sighed at how heavy the situation was if Abby did somehow found out. He never thought to take her feelings into consideration. "There's also something else I did that may have been stupid on my part."

Penny stopped eating to stare at him suspiciously with a raised eyebrow. "What?" She asked slowly uncertain if it was something she'd get angry or upset about.

"I may have told Abby the truth about it." Leonard confesses sheepishly for his wife's reaction.

"You _told_ her?" Penny asked a little annoyed.

"Not the _whole_ truth anyway," He quickly explained himself. "I have _hinted_ it to her. Abby asked me if I had any kids, and I answered no, but I technically do. So, I told her a story that instead of using Zack and Marissa, I used a different couple to tell her I have a child."

"Leonard, why would you do that?" Penny groaned in disapproval.

"There was no way she could've known about the truth. She never made the connections. I was subtle about it."

Penny still didn't like it. She stared at her husband sternly. "If you're ever going to pull something like that again, you better ask Zack for permission first."

Leonard completely understood and was in agreement with her.

* * *

Howard and Bernadette was spending alone time together the next day in the afternoon which was rare for them because they've always been so busy taking care of their children. Both of them savored every moment they could with each other.

Halley was on a date with some guy named Colton. Howard hated it whenever she would go out on dates. It would bring out the protective Dad side of him. It was their third date. He knew what happened on the third date. He hoped she wouldn't have sex already.

As for his son, Michael was hanging out with his friends, Arthur, Tanay, and whoever else.

Howard thought of to bring up Abby, and that his wife was right about their son having a crush on her. It was that exact Abby she talked about. He was positive of it.

"So, you wouldn't believe who I saw at the university yesterday." Howard began his story.

"Who?" Bernadette asked looking up at her husband. They were cuddling on the couch, and her head was resting on his shoulder.

"It was Leonard and Abby. Abby Johnson the girl you said Michael likes. I actually saw her." He answered.

Bernadette sat up straighter to look directly at him. The TV that's on was immediately forgotten.

"You saw her? How is she? What does she look like?" She rattled off the questions in a fast pace.

"One question at a time, Bernie." Howard chuckled in amusement. He knew she was just being protective of their only son. She was also being nosy.

"I just need to know who has the potential to be the new replacement."

"Replacement?" He raised a confused eyebrow.

"You know, to replace _me_ as the only woman in his life. Now, there will be a new one." Howard sensed her fears and worries.

"Don't worry, Bernie. I don't think it's that serious yet. Things didn't seem to be going that well for them from what I saw." Howard remembered how cold and distant Abby was to him.

"Why? What did she to him?" Bernadette demanded as if she was about to go, and make threats toward the young teen girl.

"I'm not sure if it has anything to do with her," Howard replied in a much more calm manner. "She didn't seem to like Michael at the moment, but he did flirt with her, so that might've made her felt uncomfortable."

"I thought I told you to talk to him about stopping that," Bernadette sighed in disapproval, shaking her head. "Then what happened?"

Howard shrugged. "Nothing much. All of us were just talking. Abby seems like a nice girl."

"What does she look like?"

"Brown hair and brown eyes. Very cute," Then he made a proud grin. "My son has good taste. I taught him well."

Bernadette roughly nudged him at his side making him yelp in pain.

"I can't tell if she looks like Leonard or not," He tried to remember what the girl looked like from his memory. "I do see some of her in him, but I didn't say anything to either of them. I know better to do that."

"Good," She was relieved. "Why was she at the university?"

"Leonard gave Abby a tour to see if she was interested in science. She said she liked it. Have you told anyone else about Abby?"

"No."

"Really?" Howard doubted, and Bernadette felt offended.

"No! Of course not! I wouldn't tell anyone! Not even to Penny or Amy!"

He was impressed. "Wow, not even to Amy when the two of you are on your little Moms Only Nights?"

Bernadette and Amy invented special nights only for the two of them. It was a way for them to connect and relate to each other about being a mother and a wife at the same time. They could express their frustrations, their vents, and whatever else motherhood was going on for them. Their friendship became stronger because of it.

It was kept a secret from Penny because she wasn't a mother. They didn't want to let her know, and felt bad for her being excluded. They would love to have Penny with them on those nights, but knew she couldn't possibly understand their problems. Also, none of their issues would be relatable to her.

"Nope," She answered being proud of herself. "I rather not have any drama coming to us. Besides, Michael liking Abby could turn out to be nothing. It's just a little crush anyway."

"Maybe you're right, but who knows?" Howard sighed as he leans back in his seat. "What if Michael and Abby turns out to be something...more?"

"Well, Abby needs to go by _me_ first if she's good enough for my son." She said protectively.

—0-0-0-0-0—

Halley was in her bedroom being on her laptop while she was doing her homework. She was researching for something that was for her history essay that was due in a few days.

Then someone knocked on her door, and she instantly became irritated.

"I'm busy! Go away, Michael!" Halley exclaimed.

"It's me." It was the mousy voice of her mother.

"Oh," She said being calm. She was grateful it wasn't her annoying little brother. "Come in."

Bernadette opened the door. "What are you doing?"

"Homework." Halley replied in a bored tone. Her face was glued to the screen, and she was taking notes in her notebook.

"How was your date with Colton?" She curiously asked.

Halley shrugged. "It was fine."

"Just fine? You two didn't...?" She drifted off hoping that her daughter would know what she was suggesting.

Halley looked at her in disbelief. "Sex? No way. We only kissed. Besides it was our third date. I don't give in that easily." She wasn't at all embarrassed to tell that to her.

Bernadette was glad and relieved to hear that. She was also proud of her daughter at how she stood up for herself against a boy.

"You liked it?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's not as if I had my first kiss, Mom." Halley rolled her eyes, shaking her head, and went back to doing her homework.

Bernadette sighed. She should've known better to get anymore details about the date. She supposed she should quit prying to her about it.

"That's good you had a nice time. Anyway, I was wondering if you knew anything about your brother liking another girl. Her name is Abby Johnson."

Halley remembered she saw her yesterday.

"She was at the Planetarium with Uncle Leonard the other day. I saw Michael made a move to her," Halley rolled her eyes. "I didn't know he actually _liked_ her. I thought he was just being weird and a creep."

"Well, it turns out he does. Maybe you can find more stuff out about her like be her friend." Bernadette said cryptically with a tiny smile on her face.

But Halley knew her mother better than that, and was slightly amused as she looked at her. "You want me to _spy_ on her, don't you?"

"Who said anything about spying?" She asked innocently.

"You implied it. Why should I? Abby's probably better off without the dork anyway."

Bernadette rolled her eyes. "You're only saying that because Michael's your brother, but deep down I know you love him."

Halley's face was emotionless as she just raised a doubtful eyebrow at her.

"Deep, _deep_ down you love him," Bernadette strongly emphasized. "Just do this for me, please? And for him, too. I don't want to have his heart get broken again."

Halley remembered his previous girlfriend, and how much of a mess that relationship was. She understood her mother's perspective when she pointed that out, but still didn't like doing it.

"What did Michael ever do for me?" Halley complained.

She thought of the times when her brother had done her wrong. For many examples, he had flirted with her friends, threaten to expose any of her dark secrets for his own personal gain, be constantly annoying with just his presence alone, along with so much other stuff.

Halley assumed Michael was able to get away with it more simply by being the baby of the family. Michael was doted on by their mother because she was his 'little baby boy' (how nauseating). Her father loved to have another guy in the house, and even hoped he would be just like him.

"He did many things for you, you were just never grateful or appreciated them." Bernadette answered in her son's defense.

Halley just rolled her eyes.

"How about this? I'll pay you twenty bucks if you do this one thing for me."

"Fifty," Halley countered, staring directly at her mother's eyes. "Plus I'll make dinner whenever you don't want to."

_Damn. That did sound like a good deal_, Bernadette thought being tempted with it. Why did her daughter have to be so much like her? It was easier for Michael to do things for her than it was with Halley.

"Fine." Bernadette agreed.

Later in the evening, Halley was downstairs getting a snack in the kitchen, and so was her brother. She was searching for her favorite snack where they were stored in the cupboard. There was only one butterscotch krimpet Tastykake left. When she found out it was gone, she knew who the culprit was.

Halley turned to her brother who was eating it, and glared at him.

"You know that's the last one, right?" She snapped at him. "It had my name on it!"

Michael made that stupid smirk on his face as he said smugly. "Ooops."

Her glare hardened at him while he was proudly eating one of the delicious krimpets.

Screw her mother's money. She was about to not do the task anymore.

Abby seemed to be not interested in her brother anyway when she was speaking to her.

"So, Mommy told me you're liking girls?" Halley teased him. "And here I thought you were gay. Maybe you're better off with Arthur."

Michael glared at her, too, with his eyes narrowed down. "Shut up, Halley! You know I'm not gay. I don't know what Arthur is..."

"No one knows what Arthur is," Halley rolled her eyes. "A girl could flash right in front of him, and he wouldn't care. The girl you like is Abby Johnson, right?"

"Yeah, why do you care?" He asked moodily. "And it's not like it's any of your business anyway. Just stay out of it!"

Halley lost her patience with him, and became angry. "Fine then! You're right, Michael! I don't care!"

She stormed out of the kitchen, and her desire for a snack was gone.

—0-0-0-0-0—

It was Monday the next day, and Halley was talking to one of her best friends, Raegan Mathers.

Until Halley spotted Abby at her locker. She's seen her around before by herself. She didn't know if Abby knew anyone else besides Caroline and Padma. Halley might as well befriend her not because of her mother or Michael, but because she wanted to.

She also had a plan of her own as to how to get back at her brother for being a jerk.

"Is Cameron seeing anyone?" Halley wondered.

He was Raegan's little brother. In the same grade as Arthur was, a sophomore.

"No. He tried to get Hannah Bowmen to go out with him once, but it didn't turn out so well. Why?" Raegan asked curiously.

"Would you mind if I set him up with someone?"

"Really?" She was surprised. "You'd do that? Do you have anyone in mind?"

Halley's eyes looked over to where Abby stood. "I do, but I have to ask her first."

"Oh, okay. Well, if she's willing to date my brother then I know he wouldn't hesitate to ask her out."

"That's good." Halley replied, and couldn't help to have an evil smile on her face.

Then Raegan's boyfriend appeared to her which served as a good distraction. It didn't leave her no time to suspect on anything. Halley left them alone while she approached to Abby.

"Hi, you probably don't remember me. I'm Halley. We met at the Planetarium the other day?"

"Oh, right," The memory was back into Abby's mind. "Now I remember. Michael's sister."

"Don't remind me," She groaned. "My little brother wasn't bothering you, was he?"

"No, actually. He kept his distance."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you two?"

Abby wondered silently to herself if she should be more open in front of her, but knew it was only Michael's older sister.

"From what I heard, he wanted to use a girl like me for..._sex_," She quietly said the word as if it was forbidden. "And I just didn't want to be treated like that, you know?"

"Good for you for blowing him off like that," Halley praised her. "He should know better than how to treat a woman, but I know he doesn't. He has a lot to learn. Did he even ask you if you're seeing someone first?"

"He did." Abby nodded.

"Are you?" She curiously asked.

"No, I'm not. I don't think I want to date."

"Why not? Dating isn't so bad. You just have to find the right guy."

"That hasn't been my luck lately..." Abby muttered knowing how her other encounters with guys at her previous school was.

Halley knew her plan was going out smoothly. Abby was right where she wanted her. The perfect segue for her matching making ordeal.

"How about that I have someone for you to go out with?"

"Really? Why would you do that? You barely know me. We don't even know each other. We're not even friends-"

Halley interrupted her ranting. "We can be friends, and I do it because I care about you. I watch how you are with no friends of your own yet here, and you don't have a boyfriend. So, you must be lonely."

"Who says I'm lonely?" She asked being defensive. "I'm perfectly content."

Halley regretted using that poor choice of a word, so she had to fix that mistake fast.

"That's great you are. Dating doesn't have to be on the table right now. You can just be friends with me and Cameron-"

"Who's Cameron?"

"One of my best friend's little brother. Cameron Mathers, heard of him? He's in your grade."

"Oh, maybe I've heard of him...but I don't know about this, Halley." She said unsure.

"How do you not know if you won't test the waters first? Cameron is very nice."

"Yeah, right..." She sarcastically doubted.

"I'm serious! He is. I mean, who would you rather date? My insufferable brother or someone like Cameron?"

Abby contemplated about the choices.

"Okay. I guess I'll give Cameron a chance," Then she added quickly. "As friends."

Halley felt she achieved something that her plan had worked.

"Great! And of course, you can go at your own speed with the dating. I'll have to let Cameron know about you."

"Okay." Abby answered, but still was unsure and had her own doubts about everything.

Suddenly, the bell rang for their next class.

"It's nice meeting you again, Abby. What's your phone number so we can text?" Halley asked her eagerly.

After they had exchanged phone numbers, they departed. While on her way to class, Halley walked into Michael who was staring at her suspiciously.

"What are you grinning about?" He asked her.

"Mom told me to basically spy on Abby since you had your little crush on her, and I was going to help the both of you out, but since you were being a dill hole to me as usual, the deal is off, and you made me lose fifty bucks," An evil and cruel looking smile spread across her face. "Looks like Abby is going to have a new boyfriend soon thanks to my awesome match making skills," Halley taunted him. "So, it looks like she's off limits to you."

Michael couldn't believe what had just happened happened. What his sister did to him just so he could be hurt.

"That's low for you, Halley." Michael frowned.

"What are you going to do? Cry to Mom and Dad about what I did? Whatever. Just don't mess with me again." She warned, and resumed walking to her class leaving Michael in anger at her.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hello, everyone! Hopefully all of you are healthy and doing well dealing with this virus and being quarantined. I am fine and healthy, and so is my family. No one I know of, my family members, or myself got the virus. We're all healthy. Just want to let you guys know! :)

As for the story, I know I may have written Halley and Michael unlikeable, but they'll be that way for now. Also, they're siblings, so they'll fight and do mean/petty things to each other. I can see Halley being like Bernadette and even Howard. Howard does manipulate and guilt trip people a lot. So, one of his children will have to have those traits. I just don't want to give you guys the wrong impression of Halley because she may seem to be the mostly bitchy one right now lol, but she'll develop just like Michael, and the other characters. So, don't hate or judge on her too harshly. If you still don't like her, that's fine lol.

What did you thought about the rest of this chapter? I hope you like it! Share any ideas or suggestions for this story, too, if you want! Please read and review! :)


	8. Chapter 8

Abby was in Literature class, and Mrs. McKinney assigned them into groups for a book reading project. They were reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Everyone read a chapter, and was answering questions about the book. The class was on the fifth chapter.

Abby got paired with two girls in her class who were named Olivia Gray and Sydney Woodward. Being compared to Sydney and Abby, Olivia was the tallest who seemed to be around at 6'0. She had chocolate brown eyes and her wavy dirty blonde hair was down passed her shoulders. Sydney's eyes were a bright blue, had her red hair braided, and was an inch shorter than Abby. Abby liked that she was actually taller than someone even though it was only by just a little.

"Does anyone know that Leonardo DiCaprio was in a movie for this?" Olivia asked them smiling while they were working on their questions. "Even at his age, he's still very handsome."

Sydney shrugged. "He's okay. Way too overrated for me."

"I agree," Abby said. "I've already read this book before."

"You read this book before?" Olivia asked, her brown eyes was looking Abby. "In your other school?"

"Yeah, and for fun, too." Abby answered.

"You read for _fun_?" She said as if it was ridiculous to read for entertainment.

"I like to read." Abby didn't see a problem with it.

"There's good books out there if you know the right one to get." Sydney said wisely as she pushed her gold oval glasses closer to the bridge of her nose.

"Maybe, but I can't read just for fun," Olivia replied. "Too hard for me to focus when reading is just boring. Book to movie adaptations are much better."

"Not always." She objected.

"That's true," Abby agreed. "The Giver was pretty bad, The Time Machine, Gulliver's Travels, and so much more."

"Well, anything that Leonardo was in isn't bad."

"Maybe you can read comic books or manga. That's what I read," Abby suggested, and was smirking a little. "They have colorful pictures in it."

Sydney chuckled.

"I'm not five," Olivia rolled her eyes. "I don't need to read something that has pretty pictures in it. Besides, comic books are just for geeks and nerds."

"No they're not," She defended. "That's just a stereotype. They're great if you go to a comic book store."

"Loser guys will be there, won't they?" Olivia feared.

"Maybe, but just ignore them."

She scoffed. "As if I'm going there alone. Can you come with me?"

Abby was surprised and even honored to hear that. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. Sounds like you've been there before and you can show me around. My ex was so excited to see one of those Marvel movies that came out, and I never understood the hype."

"I never thought that Logan would geek out over those things." Sydney said.

"He just loves the movies. Anyway, enough about him," Then Olivia scowled. "I hate him."

"Why?" Abby asked confused being totally out of the loop.

"He's an _ex_," Olivia sighed tiredly as if that served as an explanation. "Shouldn't that be enough?"

Sydney gave her a reproving look, and then she looked at Abby to answer her. "Logan dumped Olivia through a text, and then went right away to date another girl-"

"Who he was cheating on me with!" Olivia exclaimed angrily, and her brown eyes was glaring at the blonde that was sitting some desks away from them. "That slutbag Natalie."

"Careful, Olivia!" Sydney scolded being worried. "Natalie or Mrs. McKinney could hear you."

"Good point."

"When do you want to go to the comic book store?" Abby asked with interest. She was glad she could bring a new friend with. Her and Chloe used to go there all the time; Chloe only went there for Abby's sake, not because she was genuinely interested and curious like Olivia was.

"All three of us can go in my car after school if you want."

Abby became impressed and amazed. "You have a _car_?"

"Yep!" She answered proudly. "I'm sixteen, and have a hand-me-down dark blue Subaru that was my older sister's," Olivia rolled her eyes, and tried to be grateful. "At least I still have a car. Amanda is so lucky she can have a Mercedes. Do you have any siblings?"

"No. Only child." Abby answered, but sometimes she did wish to have a brother or a sister.

"Good thing you don't have an annoying sister."

"Try living with _three_ brothers," Sydney emphasized the pain. "It's like living with dumb, dumber, and doofus."

The three girls continued to talk to each other while they did their assignment. Abby was beginning to like Olivia and Sydney. They even became her new friends at the school.

* * *

At lunch, Abby sat with her new friends. She joined their other friends at their table, and got to know more of her classmates.

When lunch was over, she was about to leave the cafeteria to go to her next class until there were two boys in her grade who came to her side.

"Uh, hi!" The boy with mousy brown hair greeted a little too happily to her. His green eyes were beaming at her.

"Uhhh...hi?" Abby greeted him back awkwardly.

"You've probably heard of me before." He said as if he was someone important, but Abby was clueless.

"Um, no. I didn't. Sorry?" She was really confused why the boy had came to her.

"You should really improve on your manners, Cam," It was the other boy who said it. He must've been his friend. He was taller than Cam, and there was more of an athletic built to him. Very good looking. "Since he can't introduce himself properly, his name is Cameron Mathers."

"Oh, that name does sound familiar," Abby remembered. "I know you because of Halley Wolowitz. Do you know her?"

She thought that was a stupid question to ask. He most likely would. His sister was best friends with her after all.

"Yeah, Raegan, my sister is friends with her," Cameron confirmed. "Oh, and this is my best friend, Travis Underhill."

"Nice to meet you," Travis took out his hand for her to shake it which she did. "I'm just the wingman. Helping him out cause he needs it."

Abby giggled.

_I'm giggling right now? When was the last time I've done that?_ She wondered, not knowing how that girly side of her came out.

"C'mon, man..." Cameron groaned, and Travis became quiet. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me?"

Abby knew it'd be rude to reject him when Halley probably went through so much trouble to bring them together. She couldn't find it in herself to say no to him.

"Oh...uh...sure." Abby accepted making Cameron beam with a smile.

"Blink twice if you want help to escape." Travis joked making her laugh, and Cameron was embarrassed.

"What do you want to do?"

Abby was surprised that Cameron had asked her that instead of already planning it. She expected the guy would have everything organized, but appreciated that he asked her first.

"Well, uh, I know there's this new mini golf course that just opened. That seems kinda cool and fun. If you're into that anyway..." Abby said being awkward again. It was her first time planning a date. She saw the course whenever her father would drive by it, and would have loved to play. "And we can do other stuff. If you want."

"That sounds great," Cameron approved. "Maybe we can do it this Saturday in the afternoon if you're not too busy."

Abby knew that the upcoming Saturday was the day she'd turn sixteen. She's been constantly studying to get her driver's license. Her mother was nervous for her to drive, but her father seemed to have more confidence in her.

She chuckled. "This Saturday is my birthday actually."

"Really?" Both Cameron and Travis were surprised.

"All the more reason to go out on a date to celebrate together!" Travis encouraged.

He was right. Abby always spent her birthdays with her parents or Chloe. Now, she was finally on a date.

"Yeah," Cameron happily agreed. "So, I can pick you up?"

"Sure." Abby said, and gave him her home address. They exchanged cell phone numbers. She even had Travis's phone number, too.

Abby continued to go to her next class. She was getting excited and giddy at the fact that she was going to have a date on her birthday. At least it wouldn't be so lame and lonely.

* * *

When school was almost over, Abby had to text her father if she was able to hang out with her friends. She did it in the bathroom because she couldn't let herself get caught during class. She couldn't be that subtle while texting unlike how other kids did it so well.

Fortunately, Zack allowed her to. He always trusted her, was a good student, and got good grades. Abby was relieved and excited that she was able to hang out with her new friends.

Later, Abby was in Olivia's car with her and Sydney after school. They drove to Dairy Queen to get some ice cream first, and then went to the comic book store.

The three of them entered the store and browsed through the comics. Abby read a few of the Marvel and DC ones and suggested what she thought was the best. Even though she didn't like superheroes that much.

A cute woman with brown hair approached to them who seemed nice and friendly.

"Hello. My name is Denise, and if you girls like any help with anything, just let me know."

"Okay, thanks." Abby said appreciatively.

"I like the artwork here. Looks cool." Sydney complimented looking around.

Portraits were hung that was of fandom drawings and paintings. They looked professionally done and realistic.

"Thanks. My husband made them. Thought it'd be a nice decorative touch," Denise said. "I'm glad that he's finally getting the recognition for his work now since he blew up from a couple of his art openings years ago."

"Well, it's very nice." Abby agreed.

"Do you know who is the best superhero?" Olivia asked.

A few guys who have overheard turned their heads to them as if it was a ridiculous question.

"Oh, that's a forbidden question to ask here," Denise seriously warned. "No need to cause a war."

"In _your_ opinion?" Abby added.

"I'm torn between Superman, Wolverine, and Batman. But if I really have to choose, it has to be the classic Superman."

"Hugh Jackman was the one who played Wolverine, right?" Olivia asked.

"Yep." Denise answered, nodding.

"He's so hot!" She swooned to the two other girls.

"The female superheroes are pretty badass, too," Abby mentioned. "If you don't mind how some of them are dressed very slutty."

"What's wrong with being a badass and sexy at the same time?" Olivia asked.

"I have to say Wonder Woman is badass, but that's only because I'm extremely biased. My husband and I named our daughter, Diana, after her. I can give you some other recommendations to read."

"That'd be great." Sydney said.

"You're actually serious about reading them?" Olivia asked in surprise.

"Yeah," She shrugged. "Why not try them out?"

Denise showed them comic books that they can read since they're beginners, and introduced them to the different universes. Then the three girls purchased a few of the comic books they picked out, and Abby got another manga book. The girls were pleasantly surprised and satisfied with their visit to the comic book store.

At least Abby finally gained new friends, and even a potential boyfriend.


	9. Chapter 9

"So, I was thinking for tomorrow I would take you down to your Mom's that way you can spend your birthday with her. Then on Sunday, it'll be you and me. We could even get your permit and license and everything. What do you think?" Zack suggested to Abby over their dinner he made for them.

Abby twirled her fork around the food for a moment while she thought about it. Tomorrow for her birthday she could finally see her mother since the divorce. Since she left. It felt like Abby hadn't seen her mother in years. Of course she would love to reunite with her.

But there was her date with Cameron Mathers. Her very _first_ date. Ever. That had never happened before to her. She was more than excited and thrilled to go on her first date, and would not like to cancel it. Sure they could always reschedule, but it was going to happen on her birthday.

Her first date on the day of her birthday? How amazing and awesome was that? Never in Abby's life could she have predicted that to happen.

Would it be selfish of her to go on her date rather than to spend quality time with her mother? Probably. How could she go off with a guy she didn't even know, and ignore her own mother?

How could she choose something so difficult like that?

The answer should've been simple, right? The obvious was to pick her mother. But deep down, Abby didn't know if that's what she really wanted.

Maybe she was overthinking things too much. She tends to do that.

"Abby?" Her father's voice brought her back to reality. Her attention was onto him. "You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah," She snapped out of her thoughts. "Um...it's just that tomorrow...uh..."

It wasn't easy for her to have come out and say it. Her father knew it would be her very first date, too. It was something new for the both of them. Abby was afraid and nervous on how he'd react.

Would he be protective? Or worse, _overprotective_? Nervous? Would he hate it that she's finally starting to date guys?

She looked at him to continue. "I have a date."

"With a guy?" He asked.

"Well, uh, yeah." She answered confusedly with a raised eyebrow. It should've been obvious she wasn't gay.

"Oh. Your mother and I didn't know if you were gay or not. We wouldn't have minded if you are."

"I'm not gay, Dad," Abby rolled her eyes. "I have a date with a boy, and his name is Cameron."

"Really?" He asked sounding interested. By the tone of his voice, and his behavior, Abby judged he was getting protective.

One of Abby's new fears since she might be in a new relationship if everything would go well.

"Yeah. He's in my grade. A friend of mine set us up, and I couldn't turn it down. I would love to hang out with Mom, but I also want to go on my date."

"I see..." Zack sighed, and Abby worried if he was disappointed that she ruined any plans. "Well, it is your birthday tomorrow, so you can get to do whatever you want. What is it that you really want to do?"

She bit her bottom lip, and couldn't help to smile a little. Just the thought of her first date excited her. "I want to be with Cameron."

Zack nodded respectfully. "Okay then. I'll call your mother, and tell her what's up. But you should call her too."

"I will." She agreed.

"If she's not busy on Sunday, then maybe you can be with her."

"Why can't the three of us be together?" Abby hoped, but he shook his head.

"Nah. She still hates me."

"Fine." Abby sighed.

"Sooo, what are you and this Cameron going to do together tomorrow?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Hang out somewhere, I guess."

"Anything else I should know about this guy? He's not bad, is he? Does he get good grades? Did he ever had any detentions? Does he drink-"

"Dad!" Abby exclaimed being annoyed at the constant questions.

"What? I need to know these things before I let him date my daughter." He countered protectively.

"Well, we're going on a date anyway tomorrow. It's all planned. I'll find more about him then."

"And I will, too." Zack added which Abby glared at him.

_Let the overprotective Dad commence... _Abby miserably thought.

* * *

Michael was getting ready for his date with a girl his mother, Bernadette, had arranged. He didn't really want to go, but he did for the sake of his mother. The worst part about the date was that he didn't know the girl's name.

Until Bernadette revealed to him what it was. It was a strange name that started with the letter L.

The girl's name was Lorelei Mumford. Bernadette figured the name must've been inspired by an old TV show called, Gilmore Girls. It was lame according to his mother's opinion. As for Michael, he never heard of that show before, but didn't want to; it sounded too girlish.

Probably something that his Uncle Raj would've enjoyed.

After Michael checked himself out in front of the mirror for one last time, he knew he was ready. He had to suck it up, and go on the date.

"Awww, look at my little man." Bernadette gushed at her youngest and only son.

That comment made him cringe. Such a mother thing for her to say, and yet, it was still so embarrassing.

"Mom..." He groaned.

"Yeah, Bernie, you're embarrassing him already." At least his Dad was able to see that.

"What? I can't help it," She said in her squeaky voice as she walked into her son's room, and admired him. "He looks so adorable, and like a mini version of you."

"_Adorable_?" Michael raised his right eyebrow at that word.

"What do you want me to say?" She rolled her eyes. "Sexy?"

He cringed even more. "Ugh, god no. That just made it worse."

Michael didn't see what was so special about how he looked anyway. All he had on was a blue plaid shirt, and wore a black shirt underneath it, also including jeans, and sneakers.

"Now on this date I want you to behave like a proper gentleman, and do well for me," Michael gave her a look so she quickly added. "And have fun for you, too."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Howard ironically advised.

Michael heard some of the stories about his father's past relationships mostly from Uncle Raj. He never knew that his father would have such an...interesting past with women before his mother.

"As if you should be giving him any dating advice." Bernadette said to her husband, not trusting him on whatever wise counsel he could give.

"What? I'm the Dad. That's what I'm supposed to do."

"I'm good, Dad," Michael assured. "This will be just a one time thing."

"Don't forget about the party," Bernadette pointed out which made her son groan again. That made her scold strictly at him. "You don't have to get so miserable about it. I thought you always wanted a girlfriend."

"Yeah, but not like this."

"Well, you'll get to know her, and see how it'll work out." Howard encouraged.

"I guess..." Michael replied, and looked at the time on his phone. "I should go now." He didn't look at all enthusiastic to go.

"Make a good first impression for me, so I could work on that new drug!" Bernadette said while her son was walking out of the bedroom.

Later, Michael drove to Del Taco, and was supposed to have met Lorelei there. The funny thing was they had accidentally bumped into each other at the entrance of the restaurant.

"Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry! I am kinda clumsy." The girl apologized.

"It's okay. I wasn't paying attention either," Michael waved it off. "I have a date to go to."

"Really? Me, too."

Something inside his head clicked if she was the one. "What's your name? If you don't mind me asking..."

"Lorelei Mumford." She introduced herself.

"Oh, I'm Michael Wolowitz," He said being delighted he found her. "Your date."

Lorelei's brown eyes looked up and down at his body as if to study him.

"Hm. You're not as bad as I thought. I guess I could do with you."

Michael didn't know how to receive that, but it might've been a good thing.

Lorelei was pretty cute. His mother said she had acne apparently, but it looked like it got covered up with make up. She was an average height, so only an inch taller than him. Her eyes were a warm brown, but wasn't that bright and chocolate like how Abby's was.

_Ugh. Why am I thinking of her right now? Arthur, Brian, and Derek would be disappointed in me that I was. _He thought.

Unlike Abby, her hair was a dirty blonde color. She wore an old rock band t-shirt, ripped jeans, and Vans sneakers. She was pudgy looking, but still had a great womanly figure.

They went to get seated at a table, and then ordered their drinks which they received seconds later. The waiter would return back soon to have their meals be ordered.

"So...uh..." Michael felt awkward and uncomfortable about how he should begin their conversation. "Lorelei, huh? That's a...unique name."

"Thanks, but I hate it," She said with distaste. "Your last name is Wolowitz so you must be a Jew, right?"

"No. Well, my Dad is, but I'm not, and neither is my mother. She's Catholic. My sister claims her Jewish heritage to carry on the tradition." He rolled his eyes at that because Halley just had to be Daddy's little girl/princess.

"What about you? Do you have a religion or faith?"

"I believe in omnism," She hummed in approval. "I did my parents a favor to not have them worry about me picking any religion. You?"

"Atheist," She answered with no hesitation.

That reminded him of Uncle Sheldon how he had those same beliefs.

"Because of my lifestyle. Not many religions seem to approve of it."

"What's so bad about your lifestyle?" He asked curiously, and took a sip of his drink.

"I'm gay." She bluntly answered which almost made him choke on his Mountain Dew.

That was a sudden and unexpected turn of events.

"You're-you're what?!"

"Gay," She gave him a look, and asked threateningly. "Have a problem with that?"

"No, not at all," He said. He wasn't intimidated by her glare. He was used to getting that from his mother and sister. "Since you're gay, why did you decide to go out with me?"

"Just to stop my parents from annoying me that I should date someone by now," She said like it really had bother her. "I didn't want to go, but I had to."

"Me too." Michael confessed.

"Why?"

"My Mom wanted me to give a good impression for her since your Dad is her boss, and she wanted to do one of the projects."

"I see," Lorelei nodded with an amused look. "She was using you."

"No," He was quick to defend, but perhaps she was right. "Maybe..." He softly admitted after he thought about it. "There's this dance too she suggested I should take you...?"

"Oh, god," She groaned, and rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to go. They're always so lame."

"Tell me about it." He said like he felt he had to agree with her. Only because he never had someone to take as a date.

"Don't you hate it when parents control your own life?" Lorelei asked him.

Michael had to relate with her there because of the current situation he was in for example.

"Yeah, I think every kid does." He answered.

Their conversation consisted mostly of venting about how much their parents had frustrated them.

Michael started to like Lorelei as a friend, and appreciated her company.

_Too bad she was gay... _He glumly thought.

* * *

It was finally Saturday, and Abby tried on three different kinds of outfits. She felt a lot of emotions. She was extremely excited and nervous. It was her very first date after all.

She reminded herself to give Chloe all the details about it after it was over. They haven't talked in forever, and this was one of the times when Abby's life got interesting.

She eventually decided to wear a sweetheart neck top with skinny jeans, and sandals. Abby debated with herself for a while if she should wear make up. So, she chose something simple which mascara and lipgloss.

Abby went to grab her crossbody purse that lied on her bed. It contained her phone, cash, and other few things she might need. She mentally checked stuff off from her list if she had everything.

Her phone suddenly buzzed, and she took it out. Cameron texted her that he would be there soon. It made her heart flutter just thinking about him.

Then there was a knock on her door. It was closed so she could change in private.

"Is it safe to come in?" He asked making Abby roll her eyes.

"Yes." She replied, and he opened the door to enter.

His eyes observed her outfit. "You look...nice."

Abby was surprised to hear that. "Thanks."

"But maybe you should wear a...different kind of jeans." He added.

_There it was,_ Abby mentally groaned. She should've seen that coming.

"C'mon, Daddy, I practically changed about five different times." Abby protested.

Normally, she would never wear any clothes that was too revealing. That just wasn't her style. But she thought her outfit for the date was safe and modest.

"Abby..." Zack said her name sternly.

"What's wrong with it anyway?" She complained.

He looked uncomfortable while answering it. "It shows off your legs and...curves. And your shirt is showing some...cleavage." Zack hated saying those two words like '_curves_' and '_cleavage_' in front of his own daughter. It was so terribly weird, awkward, and uncomfortable for him.

Abby rolled her eyes at the weak argument. He never had a problem with her wearing the skinny jeans or the shirt before. It wasn't like her breasts were popping out of it.

"Mom would say I look fine." She countered defensively which was true. Her mother would be on her side if she was with them.

Zack looked like he was about to give in when she pulled the mother card.

"Anyways, Cameron is supposed to be here any minute so I don't want to be late for him." Abby said, and she went downstairs.

Around one o' clock, someone suddenly rang the doorbell. Abby answered it first instead to give her father a chance. She opened the door, and to her immense relief it was Cameron.

"Hi. You look..." A bunch of overwhelming thoughts gone around in her mind at his reaction. His eyes looked up and down at her. "Beautiful."

She felt more than flattered at his compliment. "Thank you. So, do you," _Can you call guys beautiful?_ Abby wondered. She corrected herself. "Look handsome, I mean."

"Thanks," He smirked, and observed her home. "You have a nice house. It's like you're rich."

"I am, but I don't like to brag about it much." Abby said being uncomfortable with that.

"Why not? Do you know how popular you can be if the school knew?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't care about that..."

Abby sometimes wished she was popular, and not such a dork. But if it meant you were popular because of superficial things, she didn't want anything to do with that.

Zack came downstairs to them, and Abby hoped he wouldn't give either of them a hard time.

"Hey, so you must be..." He drifted off. Abby knew that her father knows his name.

"Cameron Mathers...sir." The teenage boy added nervously as if he wasn't sure if he was should call him that.

"Whatever you kids do today make it PG," With a second thought, Zack corrected himself. "G rated actually."

"Dad, nothing is going to happen." Abby assured which gave him a little comfort.

"Good cause it better not," He said strictly. "You'll have her home by eight?"

"_Eight_?" She asked as if it was a ridiculous curfew.

"Fine. Ten, then?" Zack changed which made Abby felt better at that.

"Ten sounds great." Cameron approved.

After that exchanged, Cameron led Abby to his car. As a gentleman, he helped her into the passenger's seat by opening the door. She sat down, and closed it while he went to the driver's seat.

"I hope you don't mind this turned out to be a double date," Cameron said sheepishly. He didn't know if she would approve of it or not. "Just to not have this date be awkward. It might help having other people around."

"That's fine," Abby said. She was enjoying the new experiences. She was never on a double date before as well. "Who's joining us?"

"Remember my friend, Travis?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"He'll come with his own date."

"He has a girlfriend?" Abby was surprised. Travis didn't seem like he would be the boyfriend type.

"That's not what he likes to call her," He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's not that serious he says."

Later, they arrived at the new mini golf, and met Travis, and his date, Samantha Walden. She was a blonde bombshell with bright blue eyes, and was taller than Abby. Abby felt average compared to someone gorgeous like her. Sam reminded her of how Penny looked, but younger. Abby's father had a minor heart attack about the skinny jeans she was wearing, but Sam's shorts was even shorter than the ones she owns. Sam also had a crop top on, and wore sandals.

Travis looked at Abby differently. In a way that she didn't know how to read it.

"Don't _you_ look gorgeous?" He flirted with her which made blush, and unable to look at him in the eyes.

_Is that flirting? Why would he flirt with me? No guy ever did that before, _She thought. _Plus I'm with Cameron, not him. Maybe he's just being nice.._

After Abby and Sam introduced themselves to each other, Sam had asked her. "So, today is your sixteenth birthday, huh? That's really cool it's on the same day as your date. Are you going to get your driver's license?"

"Yeah, soon I will."

"What kind of car will you get?" Travis asked her.

"Not sure..."

"I wish I could get a Tesla." He dreamed, and Sam rolled her eyes.

"Of course you would. You'll wreck it with your driving."

"I'm an excellent driver!" He defended himself making Abby and Cameron chuckle in amusement.

They played some rounds of golf. Sam acted more ditzy and flirty to Travis. It was as if she tried to play dumb by not knowing how to use a golf club. Travis had to show her, but it was obvious that she only used that as an excuse so she could have felt him press up against her from behind. He used his hands to guide her how to hold the club properly. Abby was amused by how Sam flirted with him, but she seemed like a nice person other than that.

There was no way Abby herself could be so bold to flirt with Cameron like that. She didn't even know how to do it right.

When Sam knew how to use the club, she swung at the golf ball, and it rolled passed the hole. Travis even offered to help out Abby if she needed instructions how to hold the golf club, but she immediately refused. She didn't want to be that close with him like how he was to Sam.

Even Cameron had told Travis to knock it off because he was in a flirty and touchy mood.

"Relax, Cam," Abby heard their low conversation while Sam talked about whatever to her. "They're both hot. Make a move already to her or I will."

"What about Sam?"

"You know that's just sex. It's nothing." He said it so carelessly.

Abby wasn't so sure if she liked Travis anymore.

After they finished playing mini golf together, they did other fun activities as well. The four of them even managed to squeeze a movie in at the theaters. Later, they decided to go out to eat. The restaurant would be Abby's choice since it was her birthday. Abby planned for them to get ice cream after dinner for her birthday treat.

"I am craving for a burger at In-N-Out." Travis said longingly.

"It's Abby's birthday, Trav, let her decide," Sam said to him as if she was a mother. "Hungry for sushi?"

"I don't like sushi that much."

"There's this very good Vietnamese place I know. Want to go there and try it out?" Cameron suggested.

"Sure." Abby shrugged.

They went to the restaurant, and got their table. After ordering their drinks and their meals, their waitress arrived with their beverages a few minutes later. The waitress would arrive with their meals momentarily.

"So, how is your Dad and his new girlfriend?" Sam asked to Travis, smirking.

He shrugged with a long and bored sigh. "Fine, I guess. I don't really mind Julia," He looked at Abby to explain to clarify for her. "My parents are divorced, and my Dad is out dating again."

"You don't get to hear them when they're in bed, do you?" Cameron teased.

"No, thank god, but I do sleep with my AirPods in so..."

Abby took a sip of her drink, and said. "I know how that feels. My parents are divorced, too, but my Dad's not dating. I don't think so anyway."

"Would you mind if he did?" Cameron asked her.

"I don't think so, but it'll be kinda weird for me. Something I'll have to get used to."

"Yeah, you do have to get used to your parents seeing other people again," Travis said. "Like my Mom says, Dad can be such a genius, but a huge idiot at times."

"Your Dad's a genius?" Abby asked curiously.

"Yeah, he's an experimental physicist."

_I wonder if he knows Leonard Hofstadter, _Abby wondered. She was about to ask, but refrained.

It's not like she knew Leonard, so why would she care?

"Are you into science, too?"

"Kind of, but not as much as he is. You?"

"Yeah, it does fascinate me. I like to know how the universe works, but I wouldn't make it my career."

"David may be a genius, but he's also pretty hot for an old guy." Sam commented, and Travis gave her a look for it as if he didn't appreciate she called his father hot. "What? He is!" Sam said in her own defense. She looked at Abby. "You'll agree with me if you saw him."

"I can't wait to get my motorcycle license when I'm eighteen," Travis dreamed. "I've always wanted one since my Dad has one. Mom thinks it's practical of me to have a car for school and my job," He rolled his eyes at that. "Eighteen is when I'm allowed to get it."

"I hope you won't get into any accidents," Abby said being concerned for his protection. "They can be not safe if you don't handle them well."

"Now you sound just like my mother." He rolled his eyes.

"The food should come, so I should go to the bathroom quick," Sam looked at Abby. "Want to come?"

"Sure." She said, and followed her to the restroom. She didn't want to be left alone with two guys anyway.

In the restroom, Sam did have to use the toilet, but when she came out to wash her hands, Abby was curious about hers and Travis's relationship.

"How long have you and Travis been dating?" She curiously asked.

"Oh, we're not dating," Sam answered. "It's kinda like a friends with benefits, you know?"

Abby knew exactly what that was even though she was never in that situation. She saw the movie with Chloe that literally was called Friends with Benefits featuring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.

"He seems to really like you." Sam mentioned while she was fixing her hair and lipstick.

"No, he doesn't..." Abby doubted remembering the conversation she overheard a little of with him and Cameron.

"Yeah, he does. I can tell that you like him, too, with all of the blushing, and how cute you look at him. More than you do with Cam."

"But since Travis expects sex out of you then he'll do the same for me too." Abby worried.

She definitely wasn't ready for that yet.

"Not really. He talks big if he'll act like that, but he's not what you think." Sam said, and checked herself in the mirror for one last time. She left the bathroom with Abby following from behind.

Maybe there was a part of her that liked Travis more than Cameron. The fact it wasn't serious between Travis and Sam made it better, but still was unsure about him. She didn't know what it was that made her so attracted to Travis.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm surprised no one ever caught the connection with Travis Underhill that he's David Underhill's son. Does anyone remember David the guy from season 2? Do you think Travis is someone who should be trusted? What do you think of Abby's new life experiences like dating and crushing on boys? There will be more chapters to come, and sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Please review! It means a lot! :)


	10. Chapter 10

Ever since the double date Abby had, she was getting more used to have her own social life. Her group of friends was expanding. She didn't only have Chloe to rely on, but met other new friends at her new school. Her and Chloe still video chat with each other, and would hang out in person sometimes over the weekend. Chloe was busy with her own life with having a job and she had a new boyfriend named, Josh.

Abby had a nice time with her first date, but didn't make it official with her and Cameron. She wasn't sure if she wanted to take their relationship to the next level in case if it turned out to be something like what Travis and Sam have.

Those two seemed to end their ways, and it was a mutual split on both parts. Abby didn't want to believe it was a coincidence because of how she came into the picture, and Sam told her that Travis was into her. All of a sudden they happened to end...whatever they had. Abby wouldn't give herself so easily to Travis like she hadn't with Cameron.

Dating and relationships was a new and scary territory for her.

Cameron and Travis respected Abby's wishes for them to remain just friends even though Cameron was more disappointed about it. Abby felt a little bad for him, but she just wasn't ready for that to happen so quickly.

When it was a Friday, Zack promised her they would go out for her learner's permit. It was something that Abby was the most excited about, and looked forward to. Of course she passed her test with flying colors, and now, she legally got her permit.

Zack had been teaching Abby the basics of driving and how to do it properly. She was a quick and an avid learner. She wished six months would pass by already just so she could get her license.

Abby already got a job to save enough money to buy her own car. Zack meant to surprise Abby that he would secretly buy a car for her as a gift. She would help pay for it with the job that she had.

Abby, Olivia, and Sydney got a job as a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. They would get a decent amount of money, so it would do for the three of them at the moment. It was an agreement they made that they'd get the same jobs together.

That's how Olivia wanted it, anyway.

Olivia was one of the hostesses up front of the restaurant with a couple of the others. Both Abby and Sydney became waitresses.

It was like everything was going great in Abby's life.

* * *

One day Abby and Travis was working on their homework together in her living room. It was Algebra 2 that Travis needed help with. Abby knew she was good at math, and wanted to help him with it.

"Why didn't you ask Sam to help you with this?" Abby asked.

"You know Sam and I aren't dating, and there's no way she's smart with this stuff. She'll either just copy it from others or have one of the nerds to do it for her."

Abby gave him a look, and pointed out. "Hello? I am a nerd."

"Yeah, but a hot one."

She rolled her eyes.

"I used to have Cooper do my math homework. I wouldn't say it to him, but that kid's a genius when it comes to math and science."

"Cooper?"

"Arthur Cooper. Know that dweeb?"

"Yeah, kind of, and be nice," She playfully hit his arm. "Why didn't you ask him this time?" Abby wondered.

"So, I can spend more time with you," She knew he was flirting with her. "You're another genius I know," They were sitting on the couch, and he put an arm around her shoulders. "How about for every problem I solve that's right, I get a kiss?"

Abby actually laughed at that.

"I don't think so, Travis. Nice try."

"Come on..." He rubbed her right shoulder, and scooted closer to her. "I am doing good, aren't I?"

"You are doing _well_," She corrected him which made Travis roll his eyes. "I don't want to hurt Sam by kissing you."

"Seriously, she wouldn't care. Trust me. Just one," He insisted. "She even moved on from me already."

"What about Cameron? I think he still likes me..."

"He'll get over it," Travis waved it off. "Do _you_ like him?"

"In _that_ way? No, not really..." She sheepishly confessed.

"Me?"

"_You_ what?" She asked blankly as he slowly leaned his head to hers.

"Do you like me?"

Abby narrowed her eyes at him. "No."

Travis smirked in amusement, and gently caressed the side of her face. He doubted her, and said huskily. "Liar."

Then Travis planted his lips onto Abby's. She had never pictured her first kiss something like this. Abby thought Travis's lips were so soft, and moved along nicely against her own. Obviously he was very experienced with the art of kissing. It was still mind blowing for Abby that someone handsome like Travis Underhill was falling for her.

Unfortunately, their little kissing session was interrupted by someone who cleared their throat.

Both of the teenagers sprang apart from each other quickly, and acted as if nothing ever happened. Abby turned around, and saw her father was standing there at the end of the stairs with his arms crossed.

Zack didn't look too pleased at what he was seeing. "Shouldn't it be time by now for you to go home, Trevor?" He asked sternly to the young teenager. Abby's eyes sent daggers to her father because he did know his name properly.

"Uh...it's Travis," He corrected which made Abby cringe because Zack's glare deepened at him. "But you're right. I should head home."

Travis gathered his school work, and put them into his book bag. He was about to kiss Abby on the cheek until he was aware of Zack's intimidating presence, and backed off. He bid Abby and her father a goodbye, and left the house.

Zack looked at Abby as if waiting for an explanation.

"I thought the two of you were doing your homework. _Not_ making out."

"We weren't making out! It was just a...just a kiss. That's all. I don't know why he did it..." She muttered the last sentence to herself.

"I can think of many reasons why." He said knowingly being suspicious of the male teenager's motives.

"He's not like that, Daddy!" Abby exclaimed with frustration, and gathered her things to go upstairs to her bedroom. "You just don't know him!"

Zack remembered he heard that very same thing during arguments between his old girlfriends at that age with their fathers. He was positive if Zack didn't interrupt their moment, he knew they would've gone further.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Abby was growing up, and he hated the fact that boys took interest in her like Travis had. It was another part of parenthood he wasn't ready or prepared for.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I have Abby to work at the famous Cheesecake Factory because I figured Sheldon would still like to have his old schedule/routine. Also, it's true that Abby may have Leonard's brains, but she's also a part of Marissa. Will it be true love with Travis for Abby or will she find herself in trouble? Read and review to find out! :)


	11. Chapter 11

Penny was at a bar for Girls' Night. It was the last nightly activity the girls planned to do. She wore a provocative dress on just so she still could feel sexy. But it wasn't anything too outrageous. It was mostly Penny who had a more revealing dress, and even Bernadette was showing a little bit of cleavage. Amy still dressed modest, but in a very fashionable way not like how she did before thanks to her new wardrobe change years ago.

But it wasn't just the three of them together. They've been including Raj's wife, Varsha, in their group. All four of them were friends together because of their husbands. Varsha also wore a sexy dress that showed off her long and slim legs well just like Penny.

They sat at a table together, and talked about their lives as usual amongst other things. It was rare for the four women to hung out like they used to, but they always appreciated the time whenever they did.

"Thank god I can finally have a drink," Varsha said with relief as she took a sip of her wine. She let aout a pleasant sigh as if it refreshed her. "I feel like it's been forever since I drank some."

"There's no problem getting drunk once in a while," Penny encouraged. "Just don't get frisky with Raj while you're drunk. You don't want to accidentally get knocked up."

"No, I don't want to go through that again," Then Varsha added thoughtfully. "But I sometimes think I wouldn't mind have a little one around again. Nadira is the baby of the family, and she's only eleven. Time goes by so fast."

"I know what you mean," Amy agreed. "I still remember raising the twins back at mine and Sheldon's old apartment. It's crazy to look on that now when they're teens," She spoke of her children proudly. "Both of them are doing marvelous with school and their grades obviously are superior than the rest of the entire student body."

"Excuse me, but I'll have you know that Halley got accepted to MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, Stanford, and Columbia. We're still waiting to hear from Harvard. She seems interested for Columbia now since that's in New York," Bernadette rolled her eyes at that. "Howard and I hope she wouldn't pick that, and maybe MIT, or even closer to home."

"That's very nice for her, but remember that Arthur and Caroline was offered to start high school at only nine years old just like Sheldon."

"Yeah, but neither of them wanted to." Bernadette argued.

"Only because they wanted to be with their friends. If they had chosen the opposite, they would've graduated from college by now."

"Okay, okay," Penny wanted to settle the dispute. "Let's not pit children against each other. Besides, I thought that was the rule on these nights. No talking about children?" She stared sternly at all three of the mothers.

"You're right..." Bernadette and Amy sighed and agreed. They gave apologetic looks at each other.

"Even though it's kind of hard to when our life basically revolves around them," Bernadette said. "Sometimes Howard and I wish we can be like you and Leonard. Living your lives kid-free. Sounds so peaceful."

"Well, the grass isn't always greener on the other side, I can tell you that." Penny said as she took a sip of her wine.

"Trouble in paradise?" Varsha wondered with a raised a eyebrow.

"What? No, but it's just that we ran into Zack and his daughter, Abby, one time, and Leonard could not stop thinking or talking about her." Penny sighed tiredly.

"With everything that's been going on right now, I actually forgot about her," Amy admitted. "She must be around the twins age, right? Fifteen or sixteen?"

"Yeah, somewhere around that age range, I think."

"You really can't blame him for thinking about her." Varsha reasoned.

Even though she was new to the group years ago, she still knew about Leonard giving a child to a couple that him and Penny knew. She appeared in Raj's life after that happened.

"I know, but I just don't want to get his feelings hurt. What if Abby wouldn't care that Leonard's her biological father, and want nothing to do with him? That would crush him. I'm just trying to save him from the pain, but I get to look like the bad guy." She vented her frustrations to them.

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about children?" Bernadette scolded teasingly, and gave her an amused look. She was careful not to say anything about the crush her son had on Abby. She had to change the subject just incase if she would. She was a terrible liar.

"Ugh, you're right!" Penny instantly remembered, and took another sip of her drink. "I guess it is kind of impossible not to..." She muttered.

"Is there anything going on with you guys at work?" Varsha asked which had them talking about their successful careers. She was a lawyer; her and Raj met at the coffee shop.

After about an hour or so, the girls were about to leave. They all drove in their own cars because they knew better than to have gotten drunk. Before Penny was about to leave, she noticed someone familiar who sat at the table by herself. The woman looked like she was about to leave, too.

Penny suddenly recognized her as Alex Jensen. She was Sheldon's former assistant. She almost looked the same when she worked for Sheldon years ago, just older like the rest of them. The only difference about her was that she didn't have her bangs.

Penny decided to walk over to her.

"Um, hello," Alex looked up at her with those wide blue eyes. "You probably don't remember me, but I'm Penny. You used to work for my friend, Sheldon Cooper?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Alex smiled kindly at her. "Hi, Penny. Are you still with Leonard?"

Penny remembered how Alex had a crush on him, but that was years ago, and she moved on from that.

"Yeah, we are. We're actually married."

"That's nice. Have any kids?"

"Nope," She shook her head. "How about you?"

"Well, I lost my husband last year."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry to hear that." Penny sympathized.

"It's okay. I'm trying to move on, but it's still so hard. We have a son together, and I'm glad that Liam looks a lot like Sean. I see a lot of his father in him. Helps me to cope with it better," Alex said. "Is Leonard here with you?"

"No, I was just here hanging out with my friends about to leave-"

"Oh, don't let me stop you-"

"It's okay, I don't mind. Were you here with your friends or a certain someone?" Penny wondered.

"I'm trying to get myself back out there by dating again, and it's just so weird to after being married for so many years. I actually stopped it from going any further. I'm not sure if I'm ready to do it all over again. I only did it for Liam's sake. He said he wanted me to be happy again, and wouldn't mind if I dated someone else."

Penny tried to think about moving on if Leonard happened to die suddenly. She wasn't sure how she would have coped and managed without him.

"Maybe that guy wasn't the one for you," Penny said. Then an excellent idea came into her mind. "How would you like it that I know someone who is single as well, and is on the look out to date again?"

Zack was into smart women. Alex might be the answer that the both of them was looking for. They're both single, and it sounded like it could be a perfect match.

Alex smiled a little bit, and was confused. "It's fine, I guess, but you and I just met after so many years, and we were never friends-"

"We can be," She insisted. "Leonard liked you a lot as a friend, and I'm sure no one would mind having you back. You don't even have to worry about Sheldon. He's changed since you last worked with him."

"I still can't believe him and his wife got Nobel Prizes," Alex was amazed. "As much as he was exhausting to work with, I knew he had a brilliant mind so him earning such an honorable award didn't surprise me."

Penny still remembered that day when she was at the ceremony, and saw Sheldon and Amy receiving their awards. It was one of the best day of their lives.

"That was great news for all of us to hear," Penny reflected. "How about you come by at mine and Leonard's place, and I could introduce you to my friend? If you don't mind. If you're not ready for that then I totally understand-"

Alex thought about it carefully before she responded. "I could try it out, I guess, and see what happens from there. If it turns out to be another failure, then I probably might give up dating altogether. Do you and Leonard still live at the apartment?"

"No, we moved to a house," Penny got her cellphone out from her purse. "Just let me have your number, and I'll give you the address."

"Okay." Alex said, taking her phone out of her purse to exchange numbers.

After that was done, Penny said. "How about this weekend you come by, and I'll let my friend know, too? Say, this next Saturday?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm free," Alex nodded, and she stood up. "It was nice to see you, Penny."

"It was nice seeing you too, Alex." Penny smiled at her.

Both of the girls talked to each other as they left the bar.

Penny hoped her match making skills would still work.

* * *

At the Hofstadter's house, Penny returned home, and saw Leonard was cleaning up the mess that he and the guys made. Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj had their own fun night. It was mostly held at their house because of how theirs was kid-free, no loud noises, and no fights between siblings. Bernadette was right that it was peaceful at their home.

"How was your guys' night?" Penny asked, and she went to help him clean up. They had pizza from Sheldon's favorite place.

"It was fine," Leonard sighed. They had a Star Wars marathon, and watched it in order. "Except when we were watching Rise of the Skywalker, Sheldon refused to watch it halfway through, and had a tantrum about it because of how awful it was. So, we had to stop watching it because we couldn't handle his complaining anymore. Then we decided to play a short game of Dungeons and Dragons."

"I still can't believe there's an actual bad Star Wars film," Penny said. "I told you they're not all great."

"Not all of them are bad," He defended. "Just those newer ones are a disappointment. What happened with you and the rest of the girls? Had to be better than ours."

"It turned out to be quite interesting at the end," Penny said. "I ran into Alex Jensen. Remember her?"

Leonard knew the name was familiar, and did remember. "Yeah, I do. Wasn't she Sheldon's former assistant?"

"Yes, and we got to talking. I felt really bad for her. Apparently, her husband passed away a year ago."

"That's awful. Do you know what happened?"

"No, I couldn't ask what happened to him. She said she was trying to start dating again. I thought of to set her up with Zack since he's single now. Might be a great idea."

"I thought you gave up on match making after Howard and Bernadette?" Leonard slightly teased.

"I did, but Bernadette is good for Howard surprisingly. Having Alex and Zack together might be a good thing. They're both single and have one child. Alex has a son named, Liam. She'll come over here next Saturday and I'll have to call Zack to meet her here, so this could all work out."

"Zack and Alex..." Leonard said thoughtfully with amusement. "Are you sure that's a good pairing? They're pretty much the opposite of each other."

"So are we," Penny countered, and she sat on the couch with him after they finished cleaning up. "Zack is into smart women, so I'll give him that."

"Marissa didn't seem so...bright." Leonard recalled on Zack's ex-wife.

"But Alex seems like she'll be a better match for him," She took out her phone to inform Zack. "Hopefully, this will all work out." Her thumbs pressed on his name to call him.

"What are you doing?" Leonard wondered.

"Calling Zack about this."

After a couple of rings, Zack picked up the phone, and answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Zack." She greeted him.

"Penny? Hi. What a funny coincidence. I was thinking about calling you."

"Me? Why?" She was confused.

"I need help what to do with Abby," Zack sighed. "She's getting interested in boys now, and there's just something off about this guy she's with. Maybe it's just me...She says nothing is going on, but I doubt it."

"Abby has her mother to talk to about that stuff," Leonard perked up a little when Penny mentioned the young girl's name. "Why do you want me to?"

"Marissa is away, and I don't think Abby will be comfortable talking about boys to her. She definitely won't with me."

Penny understood how awkward it would get. "I get that. So, Abby has a boyfriend?" That immediately shocked Leonard and caught his interest. "What's his name?"

"I don't think he's a boyfriend. His name is Travis. I don't know his last name. They just hang out a lot. I even caught them kissing." He grumbled at the memory.

"Wow. So, it's really not that serious, huh?" Penny said sarcastically.

"I don't know what's going on," He sighed. "I hope you could be able to talk to her about it. Abby might open up to you rather than to Marissa and I."

"Well, I do give great advice to my nieces and nephews," Penny bragged. "Sure I'll talk to Abby, and have her stay away from any bad boys."

"Thanks, Penny," Zack said with relief. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Have you been looking for any girlfriends recently?" Penny wondered.

"I am, but it's nothing really serious, so I never introduce them to Abby. We just have sex with each other whenever she's out of the house or at a sleepover."

Penny winced at how much he revealed. "That's too much information, Zack."

"Sorry..." He mumbled. "Why do you ask?"

"I might have someone who's available. Her name is Alex, and you'll meet her at our place next Saturday. I thought it could be like a double date."

"Really?" Zack was very interested. "Hmmm, well, I don't think I'm busy. I'm sure I can make it."

"Good," She was relieved. "When do you want me and Abby to talk?"

"Maybe Friday after she's done with school? You can come to my place, and have a girl's day or something."

"That sounds fine. I'm sure I can make it there." She promised.

"Great," Zack approved. "Thanks, Penny, and also thanks for setting me up with your friend."

"No problem. I think you will like Alex a lot. She's really smart and very pretty."

"Smart, huh? Well, you totally got me there. Love to talk to you some more, Penny, but I have to go. I will remember that date."

"Okay. Bye, Zack." Penny said, and hung up on him.

"What's going with Abby?" Leonard curiously asked.

Penny smiled knowingly. "She's just growing up, and Zack is being your typical worried father. Sounds like she's having some boy issues."

"Does she have a boyfriend?" Leonard asked, getting strangely protective of Abby.

"I don't think so. Seems confusing, but when I'll talk to Abby, hopefully things will clear up."

"You're going to talk to her about boys?" He was amused.

"I'll give her advice." Penny shrugged.

"I can always imagine you doing that to a daughter of our own," Leonard grinned as he moved to sit closer to her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Talk to her about boys and other girly stuff. You have more experience with dating and relationships than I do."

"It's weird how I can see so much of you in her," Penny said, remembering when she first saw Abby at that restaurant. "I do sometimes wonder what would happen if I gave you a child instead or stopped you from giving Zack and Marissa Abby. Then I just think how selfish I am. I know how much you want children, Leonard, but I can never give that to you." She swallowed a hard lump in her throat as her eyes watered a little.

"I know," Leonard understood softly as he tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her right ear. "But I eventually gotten used to not having children around. Abby is still here, and she's mine biologically. I know you would have made a fantastic mother, Penny."

However, she highly doubted that.

"You would've been a better parent than me." She said not to be modest, but it was the truth.

"That's not true-"

"It is," She let out a long sigh as if to reveal a big secret. "The reason why I just don't want you to keep seeing Abby or get close to her is I don't want you to get hurt."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What if she wants nothing to do with you? What if she doesn't care that you're her biological father? Zack is the only father she knows and has. To see things from Abby's perspective, you are...nothing to her. Just some random friend of her father's. If she'll know the truth, it might not make any difference. Zack is her father, and that's all that matters to her right now."

Leonard could understand where his wife was coming from. "I guess I see what you mean...Maybe I am just pushing too hard. I know I'm doing all the work to try and form some kind of a relationship. She probably doesn't want anything to do with me."

"You don't have to ignore her or anything like that, I just don't want you to get too attached, and then be so disappointed if she'll reject you." Penny said being concerned and loving for him.

"Yeah, I know," He sighed. "You're right. I'll take a step back a little. But maybe you shouldn't have accepted Zack's offer about her then."

"I know," Penny said thoughtfully, and regretted it a little. "I only did it so Zack and Alex could work. If I refused, maybe Zack wouldn't agree to the double date thing."

Leonard nodded in understanding.

"Even after all these years of our marriage, you never told me why you didn't want to have any children," Leonard said, and Penny knew the tender subject would always resurface. "I know I ask sometimes, but I never pressured you to open up about it. But I still wonder...why not?"

Penny sighed, and figured she'd have to tell him some time. She couldn't keep it a secret to herself any longer.

"It's not something so easy to say, Leonard. I really meant it when I said that you would've been a better parent than me. I know I'm a failure..." She choked up, and started to have felt emotional.

"Penny, you're not a-" He was about to comfort her, but she had to stop it.

"You don't even know the whole story about my life before I met you," She began. "It was after my high school graduation when I found out I was pregnant. Obviously, I was scared and freaked out. I already had the dream to become an actress, but with this baby in the way, I knew I would've lost the chance. I even thought about aborting it. I couldn't let it ruin my life or the father's who never really cared about me. It's one of the reasons why my Mom always wanted her family to be the perfect one. You knew she was so freaked out about meeting you and your parents. She just always wanted to be so perfect," Penny rolled her eyes in disgust. "It didn't help that my family is also the one who had pregnancies before marriage because how white trash can we get? So, when I became pregnant, I tried to keep it a secret until I knew what to do. Later on when I did, I had to cancel all of my dreams and my future for this baby. Of course, my parents weren't too happy. The father didn't want anything to do with it. So, it was all on me.

"After I had the baby, I was going to keep it. Not just because it was the right thing, but I couldn't let it go once I saw my son's face. He was perfectly happy and healthy. I really tried so hard to raise him even though it was very difficult doing it all alone. Especially, when I was juggling the baby, work, and community college. One time when the baby was napping, something just told me to go check up on him. It was almost as if something was wrong and I felt it from my motherly instincts."

Penny's eyes had tears in them, and a few slid down her face that Leonard had to wipe them away.

"What happened to him?" He gently asked her.

That's when Penny turned his head to look at him with such a broken expression.

"Have you heard of SIDS, Leonard?"

It was known as the Sudden Infant Death syndrome. He blanched in horror, fearing the worst, and predicted what happened. "Your son...he didn't..." Leonard barely said the words.

Penny furiously blinked the tears away, and sniffed a little. "Yes, he-he did," She choked up. "I always blamed myself for his death, and what I could've done to protect him more. I couldn't trust myself to be a parent after that when I couldn't have taken care of him. But when I was taking care Halley as a baby while Bernadette and Howard was on bed rest, she called me Momma, and I thought that maybe I could try it again. But I just didn't want to go through with something like that. Not when the baby would be yours, and you actually love me. I couldn't even raise a simple baby when he was under my care. That's so awful..."

Leonard soothingly rubbed her back, and conforted. "Penny, none of it was your fault. That syndrome is a weird phenomena that happens to infants. You could not blame yourself for this when these things just...naturally happen."

"But why did it have to be mine and scar me for the rest of my life?" She was annoyed.

"I may be a genius, but I don't know everything. The universe has strange and mysterious ways of having us grow. I'm really sorry that had happened to you, Penny. I had no idea. You don't deserve any kind of pain. I'm sure your son knows you love him very much."

"I haven't thought of him forever until you started to crave for kids. That's why I couldn't-"

"I know, I understand." Leonard said, and stood up with his hand out for her.

She stared at it. "What?"

"C'mon, let's go upstairs, so I can take that sexy dress off of you, and...you know..." He trailed off suggestively. Penny grabbed his hand, and he pulled her up to her feet.

"That doesn't sound like bad idea. I definitely need it after that story, and the stress from work," Penny grinned at her husband seductively as she led him upstairs to their bedroom. "You _are_ my sexy genius."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I hoped the writers would've given us some kind of explanation as to why Penny didn't want any kids, but I hated that they didn't, but got her pregnant anyway. They used the same storyline like Bernadette's. So, this is my own reason why she didn't want any kids. At least Bernadette had a reason to not want kids. Also, I always got the impression that if Penny didn't get pregnant in the show, she would've been like a BFF/cool aunt to her friend's kids. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter and please review! :)


	12. Chapter 12

While Abby was at her locker to get her things out for her next classes, her friends approached to her.

"So, what is going on with you and Travis Underhill?" Olivia asked her with interest as if thirsty for any kind of gossip.

"What?" Abby asked blankly as she closed her locker, and casually leaned against it. She looked at them. "What do you mean? Nothing is going on." She was confused at the implication that there was something more between her and Travis.

"Oh, come on, Abby," Sydney said, rolling her eyes. "You have been hanging out _a lot _with him. He was even at your house."

"We were just studying." She replied simply as if it wasn't a big deal. But she was careful not to mention the kiss.

Olivia raised a doubting eyebrow, and asked skeptically. "Is that all?"

Abby couldn't help herself when she blushed, and bit her bottom lip.

"See?" Olivia squealed, wanting to know more. "We knew something must have happened!"

Her and Sydney was getting giddish.

Abby sighed. She knew she had to reveal the truth to them. "We _did_ kiss," Sydney and Olivia broadly grinned. "But my Dad interrupted us." She rolled her eyes, and shook her head at the memory.

"Of course," Sydney shared the same annoyance. "Parents have to ruin everything. Figures."

"Are you two dating?" Olivia asked.

"No. We're just friends." Abby answered.

"Last time I checked, friends don't kiss," She smirked. "Do you _want_ to date him?"

Abby hesitated at first before she responded. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to date him. Travis seemed to not have a good reputation to begin with, but he was her very _first_ kiss. And he was _very_ good at it. They could talk about anything, and had a great time when they studied together. Besides their kissing moment.

"I don't know..." Abby was uncertain.

"How can you _not_ know?" Olivia asked in disbelief. "Any girl would love to have him, and would be insane not to."

"According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly, and expecting different results," Abby cited. "I am not insane."

"Fine," She huffed. "You're crazy, then!"

"I don't think I'm crazy," Abby disagreed. "He wouldn't want to be with someone like me. I'm not his type, anyway. Girls like Samantha Walden are more his type. Not me. I can't compete with someone like her. Why would he even want me?"

"You're smart and you're beautiful. The best combination. Not just looks." Sydney answered as if it was obvious, but Abby didn't think so. She still clearly remembered that Tyler Marshall incident.

He thought she was smart and beautiful, too.

"I don't think that's it," Abby shook her head, and then she poured out. "I just let myself get carried away with the kiss. It was my first time. I don't see how my kiss felt good for him at all. I'm surprised he wasn't repulsed by it because of my lack of experience. Let's say if we do decide to date. Then what happens next? The whole school would know, and will talk about _us_. About _me_. That I don't deserve him. Which is true. I mean-"

"Abby, you are overthinking about this way too much," Sydney interrupted her. "Just give Travis a try, and see how it'll go from there."

"I don't know..." A lot of doubtful thoughts swirled around her head.

"I agree with Syd. Give him a chance, and I'm sure he won't push things too far for you if you want it to stop," Olivia advised. "What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"A lot of things obviously." Abby replied.

She rolled her eyes, and before Olivia could say anything else, the handsome male teenager they were talking about had approached to them. Abby stood up straighter to present herself to him properly.

"Hello, ladies. Mind if I talk to Abby alone?" Travis asked them.

"No, no. Not at all," Olivia said, and grabbed onto Sydney's arm to pull her away from the couple. "C'mon, Syd. We'll see you at class, Abby."

When they were by themselves, Travis went straight to the discussion.

"We don't have much time left before the bell rings," Travis said. "So, I want to ask you out right away."

Abby blinked twice, and was in shock. "What? Ask _me_ out?" Her brown eyes looked up and down at him. "You're pretty bold to do that so quickly."

He smirked. "You have to admit that kiss we had was pretty amazing."

"Yeah," She felt herself said that dreamily, but snapped out of it. "But I won't do anything else beyond that if that's what you want. If it is, you'll just have to look elsewhere-"

"No!" He said in a panic. "I really like you. A lot. I want us to be together."

Abby was still suspicious about his motives. "Have you been in other relationships before? I won't be like Sam was to you."

"I was in relationships before, but I just don't want sex from you. You're different. You're one of the smartest girls in our grade. In the whole school even. You're beautiful, too."

"You don't seem to have a good reputation with girls." Abby was skeptical about him.

"I know, but it'll be different this time with you. I just haven't found the right girl yet to have serious relationships." Travis moved a few steps closer to her.

She raised an eyebrow as she backed away from him, but hit the lockers. "So, you think I'm the right girl for you?"

"If you want to be." He answered in a low and husky voice.

Their foreheads were almost touching, and Abby waited for what he was going to do next. Travis was the one who put his lips on hers which made her felt as if she was on cloud nine. His hands was on her waist, pulling her closer to him. Abby kissed him, and allowed their lips to work together in sync. It brought a spark within her, and she wanted more, but the bell rang their short session.

Not even Michael or Cameron was so bold and confident to ever kiss her like that. Travis was straightforward with it. To get what he wanted. Very determined, and took control.

Abby found herself liking that in a guy.

"So...what are we now?" Travis asked. His head was still close to hers. "Dating? Your choice."

If that meant she could kiss him any time she wanted, hand holding, and doing all that romantic stuff with a boyfriend, Travis Underhill would definitely be her choice. Any time they kissed, it was so amazing and magical.

"Yes," Abby smiled. "I would love to be your girlfriend, Travis."

That made him grin. "You've just made me the happiest guy in the world." He gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Abby couldn't believe it. She was having her first boyfriend!

Once the news got around that Abby was officially dating Travis Underhill, the gossip spread like wildfire. Her friends was happy for her, and believed they made a good couple.

The news even reached to the ears of Michael Wolowitz.

It disappointed him, and he knew what kind of guy Travis Underhill truly was. He believed Abby could do a lot better.

* * *

Zack made dinner for the two of them, and Abby came to the kitchen to eat at the table with him. He was going to tell her about the plan that involved Penny.

"How was your day at school today?" Zack asked her.

Abby couldn't help to grin like an idiot when she thought of Travis. She was nervous to let her father know that she was dating him. She couldn't imagine that he had a good impression of Travis when her father caught them kissing.

"It was fine."

"Just fine?" Zack asked skeptically. "Nothing else happened?"

"Well," Abby bit her bottom lip before she said. "Something did happen to me, but I don't want you to freak out about it." She stared at him seriously.

"You know me, AJ, I don't freak out," He said with confidence, but Abby doubted that because of the news she had. "I'm known to keep my cool. As long as nothing bad happened to you-"

"Nothing didn't," She quickly assured. Then a smile spread across her face as she revealed the secret. "Um...I have a boyfriend."

Zack was in shock. He didn't expect that. His little girl was dating someone for the first time, and he didn't know how he he felt about it. But he did have a guess on who it could be.

"Is it that Chad kid?" He assumed.

Abby rolled her eyes. Always get annoyed when he'd purposely pronounce the name wrong.

"His name is Travis, Dad. How many times do I have to say that?"

"When did you and him start dating?" He wondered.

"Today in fact." She answered brightly.

"Do you two...kiss?" He felt uncomfortable having this kind of conversation with her.

"Yes." She hoped she wasn't blushing.

"Did you do..." He found it difficult how to word his question. "_More_ than kiss with him? You know-"

"_What_? _No_, Dad! All we did was _kiss_! Not..._that_."

Zack felt relieved.

"Oh, good. If you do decide to have sex, just make sure you're always protected-"

"Ugh, I know that already, Dad!" She groaned. "I really don't want to have The Talk right now."

"I won't be giving you The Talk. That's for your mother to deal with. Thank god..."

Even though Abby never wanted to have The Talk with either of her parents, she felt better that she'd have it with her mother more than her father. It'll still be awkward and uncomfortable, but it'll be less embarrassing because of what would go on with the female body during coitus.

"I'm not sure if I like this Travis guy." He disapproved.

"Why not?" She frowned. "I mean, I know you're my Dad, and you're not supposed to like my boyfriends, but you don't know him. He's really not that bad."

"They're not at first," He muttered then spoke loud enough for her to hear. "There's a friend of mine who'll help you out with this...boy stuff. She knows a lot about dating, and I think she can really help you. Remember Penny?"

She remembered Leonard's gorgeous blonde wife. Abby felt jealous about her looks because she knew she wasn't anywhere near gorgeous or pretty as her. Penny did seem nice enough even though Abby felt a negative vibe about her. She didn't know what it was at first until she discovered the issue. Abby got the feeling that Penny didn't like her deep down. Abby didn't know why, and maybe she was wrong. It's not that Abby had to be liked by her, but it felt uncomfortable.

"Yes," Abby remembered. "So, she'll be giving me advice about boys? Mom can do that for me."

"You know how busy she's been lately with work," Zack told her. "As much as she'd love to, she liked that Penny would help you."

"Penny doesn't mind?" She wondered.

"Nope. Will you talk to her?"

As much as Abby wasn't sure if it was a good idea, it sounded like Penny was willing to help her. She didn't know what to think of Leonard's wife, so this could be a chance to get to know her on a somewhat personal level.

"Sure." Abby answered which seemed to have pleased her father.

"Great. The two of you will talk after school this Friday." He told her.

Abby wasn't sure how well it would turn out, and what she was getting herself into.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I was going to put the Abby and Penny bonding scene in this chapter, but I thought it'd be too long. By the way, the girl in the cover for this story is an actress named, Soni Nicole Bringas. She's mostly known for her Ramona Gibbler role on Fuller House. That's an imagery for who Abby looks like cause I want someone who looked more similar to Leonard. I hope all of you enjoyed reading this chapter and please review! :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait for the chapter, but here it finally is! There might be 4 or 5 chapters left of this so this story is sadly almost over. I realize that I mostly show Leonard and Penny more than the other adults. I showed Howard and Bernadette a few times too. I'm sorry for the lack of the original adults. This is mostly Leonard and Penny centered than the others. Please stay tuned to keep reading future chapters before it's completed. Hope you enjoy reading this chapter and please leave a review! :)

* * *

It's Friday and Abby was in study hall with Caroline and Arthur, and they were talking to each other. Abby didn't mind the twins' company. She knew they have never hung out outside of school before. So, she thought they should.

Before she could ask, there was a girl who gave Arthur a notebook. The girl was a brunette and beautiful.

"Thanks for the notes, Arthur," By how her voice sounded, Abby and Caroline could tell she was flirting with him. But of course, Arthur was oblivious to it.

"You're welcome, Eliza," He said receiving his notebook. "Are you sure you've written everything down?"

"Yes. I like how you've color coordinated your notes," She smiled. "Very organized."

"They were _my_ gel pens by the way that he stole." Caroline pointed out.

"For the last time, I _borrowed_ them." Arthur grumbled to her.

"And _when_ do you plan on giving them back?" His twin demanded.

"Eventually..." He replied and his sister only rolled her eyes in annoyance, shaking her head.

"You're lucky you're an only child, Abby." She muttered and gave Arthur a look.

"Anyway, thanks again for the notes. I sometimes forget how smart you really are." The brunette girl said fondly and walked away to her group of friends.

"Who's she again?" Abby wondered, looking at her table in the library. They were giggling and looking at Arthur, probably talking about him.

"Elizabeth Barnett, but she prefers to go by Eliza." Arthur answered.

"Kinda like Eliza from the Wild Thornberrys, right?" Abby joked, but him and Caroline clearly didn't get it. Their faces were blank. Abby felt awkward and misunderstood. "You know, from that old kids show? It was one of my parents favorites while they grew up."

"We never really watched children shows," Caroline replied. "My father said it's unhealthy for the brain. We usually watch something educational or the news."

"The news? How boring..."

"Not really. It can be very informative."

"I guess..." Abby couldn't picture young children watching the news. Her parents wouldn't let her watch that sometimes. "Are you friends with this Eliza girl or something?"

Before Arthur could respond, Caroline answered for him. "No. She's obviously just using him, but he's too stupid to see it."

"You know I'm not stupid! My IQ is precisely at 187, the same as Dad's," He insisted. "Besides, Eliza is not using me, she just needs help."

"Help in the head most likely." Caroline muttered under her breath, but Abby heard her. Arthur didn't because he was reading a book. He didn't like to do his homework in study hall. Said it was too hard to concentrate because of the loud voices.

"Also, I believe _you_ are the one who is stupid for liking Ryder Trent of all people. Dad definitely wouldn't approve of him."

"I do not like him!" Caroline hissed. However, her cheeks were red saying otherwise.

"Oh, please. I saw the back of your notebooks once when you dropped one of them. You clearly wrote: Caroline Trent. Over and over again- ow!" Arthur rubbed his foot after she had kicked him hard.

Abby remembered that she wanted to ask them something and would rather change the subject.

"Uh, so...Do you guys want to hang out sometime? I don't think we've ever hung out before. I like you guys and we can even have Padma and Halley with us."

"What about Michael?" Arthur added. "It'd be unfair to not ask him."

Abby thought about it and sighed. "I guess he can come too."

"Sure. That sounds great. When do you want to hang out? After school?"

"I can't," Abby frowned when she remembered she would be busy. "I'm going to be with Penny."

"Why?"

"My Dad wanted me to spend time with her and talk about stuff. I don't know." She rolled her eyes. She'd rather be doing something else.

"Aunt Penny is really fun and great," Caroline encouraged, grinning. "You'd like her."

"But I think she doesn't like me."

"Why say that?"

"I don't know. I just get this weird feeling."

"Maybe you can clear that up with Penny when you're with her. She's a really cool aunt. Give her a chance."

Abby would like to believe her.

The two of them discussed what they'd like to do while Arthur was drowning out the girl talk with his reading.

* * *

Michael was walking down the hallway and saw Travis Underhill with his group of friends. He already knew he was dating Abby and felt protective of her because of him. He knew what kind of guy Travis was. He didn't want to see Abby get hurt.

"Hey, Travis?" Michael approached to him.

"Oh, hey, it's Wolowitz," One of his friends, Jeremy, pointed at him. "Wanna see what the inside of a locker looks like?"

"Oh, no. You've demonstrated that more than once, I don't need to be in there again." Michael refused.

"I would like to make out with your sister in a closet." Declan grinned and his lame friends laughed.

Michael didn't know if Declan was serious or only said that to get under his skin. He was disgusted either way.

"Guys, cool it," Travis firmly told them and it's like they've all listened to him. "What do you want, Mitchell?"

He already got a little annoyed. "You can never get my name right, can you?"

"What is it?" Travis shrugged, uncaring.

"It's _Michael_!" He answered frustratedly.

"Oh, right," Travis nodded, understanding. Michael doubted that he did.

"I know you're dating Abby Johnson."

"She's hot, isn't she?" Cameron asked and his friends agreed, except for Travis who ignored them and so did Michael.

"Well, I just want you to know she's my..." He forgot where he was going with his little speech. Were him and Abby ever friends? He'd like to believe so. "Friend. And I know you don't deserve her."

Travis' eyes narrowed down at him. That must've ticked him off. "What do you mean I don't deserve her?" He nearly growled.

"I mean, Abby can do so much better than you."

"Oooh!" Travis' friends obnoxiously teased.

To Michael's surprise, he didn't expect the next response. "Don't you think I already know that? Why do you care so much about her anyway?"

"Like I said, she's my friend. And I would hate it if you ever hurt her or make her cry." He said seriously.

Travis dangerously walked closer to him looking lethal. "What will you do about it if I will?"

"Make sure you'll feel a lot pain," Michael threatened. "Just don't hurt Abby, alright?"

"_As if_ I will take orders from _you_, Wolowitz," Travis sneered close to his face. "Just stay away from me and Abby, alright? It's common sense to not hurt my girlfriend."

"Why wasn't it common sense for you to not dump Brooke in front of everyone and made her cry? Or how about you cheated on Jessica?" Michael recalled Travis' previous girlfriends from last year.

Suddenly, Michael felt excruciating pain on his face and got knocked down on the floor. Travis roughly punched him. Michael was pretty sure his nose was bleeding.

"You don't know the full story, Wolowitz, so just keep your damn mouth shut!" Travis angrily shouted.

One of his jerky friends kicked at his side making him groan in pain. Travis left and his friends followed after him.

Michael tried to get up despite the pain he was feeling, but couldn't because he was out of breath from the hard blow at his left side.

"Michael?!" He thought he heard his sister shouting his name and heard her rushing to him. Halley looked down. "Damn, what the hell happened to you?"

"I thought you have class."

"I do, but I went to the bathroom. Now spill."

"Two words," Michael winced as he tried to get up with her help. "Travis Underhill."

"Oh..."

"Oh? That's all you have to say?!" He wiped his nose onto his sleeve.

"What?! I don't know much about him." Halley said in her defense.

"He's dating Abby."

"Now I see, but what's the problem? Why did he punch you?"

"I was just warning him if he ever hurt or made Abby cry, I'll make sure to hurt him."

His sister laughed. "As if you can do that..."

"C'mon, Halley, at least have _some_ faith in me."

"Sorry, lil bro, but you really don't have any muscle. If you did, you might have a chance. Why must you be such a weak dork?"

Michael only rolled his eyes at her.

"This is going to be _your_ fault, you know?" Halley scolded.

"Why is that?" He was getting annoyed. Wasn't sure if she said that to mess with him or not.

"Travis could tell Abby what happened with him and you. If he would tell her the truth, it could make you look bad. You provoked him first. Which would mean any shots that you might have with her in the future, might not happen." Halley explained.

Michael thought about what she said and it made sense. "You're right...god, I'm such an idiot." He groaned, and wiped his bloody nose again.

"You never think things through, do you?" Halley said in disapproval, shaking her head.

"But he did punch me so I might get some pity." He said hopefully.

Halley shrugged. "Maybe. What did Travis say to you that made him punch you?"

"That he didn't deserve Abby and she could do so much better than him." Michael honestly replied.

"And you wonder why he punched you?" Halley sarcastically asked, shaking her head again. "Depends if Travis said the truth of what happened, Abby could take her boyfriend's side. All girlfriends usually do. Look, I can take you to the nurse. Your nose is bleeding and it's gross. Just let me-"

"No. I'm a big boy and I can go to the nurse by myself." Michael insisted.

"Alright. Suit yourself. Just don't do anymore stupid things, okay?"

"Okay." Michael muttered and they went to their separate ways.

* * *

After school was over, Abby and Travis was together at the parking lot.

"Maybe I should drive you home next time." Travis suggested thoughtfully making his girlfriend smile.

"That sounds nice, but you can't this time. My Dad is taking me home. I'll have to ask him sometime if you could. It's so cool you have a car." She looked at his black Mazda.

"Yeah, I know. We can go on dates together." He smiled at that holding both of her hands.

Abby was surprised and interested at them doing couple things. "I didn't know Travis Bradley Underhill went out on dates with his girlfriend."

He moved closer to her, leaning his head in. "If it's with the right one." His voice was low only so she could hear.

Travis kissed her and she kissed him back, savoring each second.

Unfortunately, their kissing got interrupted when Zack pulled up his car in the next empty parking space. The sound of his horn scared the two teenagers and made them sprung apart. Abby angrily looked at her father being annoyed with him.

"Sorry. I'll have to go," She said bitterly and kissed his cheek. "I'll text you later."

"Okay, Abs." Travis said, watching her go in the passenger's seat of her father's car. Then he went into his own and drove home.

While in the car with Zack, Abby was annoyed with him.

"You didn't have to honk your horn like that." Abby snapped.

"How else was I supposed to get your attention?" Zack innocently asked.

"By calling my name!" She exclaimed as if it was obvious.

He raised a doubting eyebrow at her. "Would you have really listened to me?"

"Yes!" She answered. "You just need to trust me."

"I do without that boy around. As long as he's not affecting with your grades, he's fine."

"I won't let Travis distract me like that, Dad." Abby promised, but Zack was a little skeptical.

"Anyway, enough about him. Don't forget you're going to be with Penny today. You can freely talk to her about anything." He reminded.

"I know. I remember." Abby replied.

"Good," He approved. "I think the two of you will really hit it off."

Abby hoped for the same thing too.

When they got home, Abby dressed herself into different clothes. While she was finishing getting herself ready, someone rang their doorbell. Abby assumed it was Penny. She turned out to be right when she could hear her and her father's voices downstairs. The last thing Abby grabbed was her purse.

Penny smiled looking at her. Abby always admired the blonde's stunning beauty. "Don't you look cute?" She gushed.

_Cute? _Abby grimaced inside her head. _That's what you'd say to a three year old. _Abby was sure Penny didn't mean to have her compliment come off as that way. But as a sixteen year old, Abby hated to be known as cute by an adult. The only one who was allowed to call her that was Travis.

"Thanks." Abby appreciated it.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Penny asked eagerly.

"Um...I'm not sure..." She hadn't taken much time to think about it.

"Do you like to shop?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, we can go to the mall and eat at someplace and talk. How does that sound?"

Abby really liked the idea. "Great actually."

Penny looked at Zack. "I'll bring her back home safe and sound. Don't worry."

"I won't. I trust you. How's the little guy doing?"

"Leonard? Oh, he's fine. He's probably playing some video game of his," Penny answered. "He liked that I'm going to spend some time with her."

"That's good he's okay with it too. Hope you guys have fun."

"We will!"

"See you whenever!" Abby told her father as they left the house to go to Penny's car.

"Be back whenever!" Zack said right back to her and closed the front door.

In the car with Penny, there was an awkward silence between the two women until she turned on the radio.

In the car with Penny, there was an awkward silence between the two women until she turned on the radio. She changed some stations and then stopped at the one she liked.

"Do you like Radiohead?" Penny wondered.

"They're okay, I guess." Abby shrugged.

"I bet you kids these days listen to the newer artists, right?" She assumed.

"It depends. Most of them aren't very good and auto tuned."

"Yeah, that's true. I don't know what kids listen to. Arthur doesn't like any of it, Caroline only likes classical, and Halley listens to country. Ugh."

"What about the others? Like Michael and Padma?"

"They don't really listen to it that much."

"Oh." Abby nodded in understanding and the two fell into the same silence again for a while.

The music from the radio was the only sound that filled the car. Until Abby had enough of the silence while they were going to the mall.

"How did you and Leonard meet?" She asked curiously. "You guys seem different. A nerdish guy and you're the girl next door type. It's like the opposite of each other."

Penny smiled fondly at the memory. "Well, we were living in the same apartment together. I lived across the hall from him and his roommate, Sheldon Cooper."

"Arthur and Caroline's father?" She knew the familiar last name.

"Yes," Penny confirmed. "Leonard fell in love with me right away when he first saw me."

"That's sweet. Did you feel the same about him?"

"Not at first. It was very slow for me. We were friends first and then we tried dating. Our relationship had the usual off and on thing going. Eventually, we became married."

"That's really nice." Abby genuinely said.

"Have you ever thought about getting married?" Penny asked.

So far, it was fun dating Travis. Could she see herself spending the rest of her life with him? She wasn't sure. But Abby just wanted to enjoy them dating and not rush into things. They didn't even have their first proper date yet.

"Sure, I thought about it, but I can't picture myself marrying my boyfriend."

"Ah, yes, your Dad did tell me that you had a boyfriend. What's his name?"

"Travis Underhill." Abby answered the name in a dreamy voice. His handsome face was coming into her mind.

Penny almost missed the red light and quickly stomped her foot onto the break pedal. The sudden movement made them both jerk roughly in their seats.

"Did you say _Underhill_?" Penny feared looking at a confused Abby.

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you know who his father is?"

"I think he said his Dad's name is David. Do you know him?"

"Unfortunately, yes," She grumbled. "We had a thing once. It was so stupid and I always regret it."

"What happened?" Abby asked with interest.

Penny wasn't sure if she should tell Abby about her past affair with the teen's boyfriend's father because of the explicit details. On the other hand, Penny really wanted Abby to be safe and never made the same mistakes she had. Even though Abby was legally Zack's daughter, she was still Leonard's biologically and wanted to protect her.

"David and I met when he was friends with Leonard. We had this dumb fling. I thought it was going well with us until I discovered he was married the whole time."

"Wow, so he cheated on his wife with you?" Abby was shocked.

"Yeah, but I only knew that when he didn't take off the nude photos of his wife while he tried to nude photos of me, his girlfriend, at the time." Penny still felt stupid because of that.

"Well, I don't think Travis will do anything like that to me." Abby doubted.

"That's what I thought at your age about all the guys I've dated. They eventually become douchebags. Your Dad and I just want you to be careful when you're dating Travis and other guys."

"You care about me?" Abby was surprised.

"Yeah, of course I do. You're my friend's daughter. I would really like for us to get to know each other better. I care more about you then you know. I just don't want you to make the same mistakes I did at your age when it comes to boys."

"What was the other stuff you did if you don't mind me asking?" Abby wondered being intrigued at the woman's past younger life.

"Well, looking back, I knew I was a handful for my parents. Especially in my teenager years. But that's because I had it easy in a way. My older sister was like me, but way worse because she got pregnant right after high school. Then there's my meth addicted brother. I was the youngest and was a troublemaker you could say for my parents. I've dated bad boys and was the wild party girl."

"I'm pretty sure I have never done half the things that you did." Abby said.

"You better not," Penny warned. "It's nice to have some fun in your teenage years, but there were times I went a little bit overboard."

"What was the craziest thing you did when you were younger?" She really was getting interested now in Penny's life because it sounded fun.

Penny went into detail with some of her teenage memories. Not being too explicit, but was clean with some stuff that would be appropriate for Abby. For a moment, Penny thought of how Abby could've been like hers and Leonard's daughter she would tell her crazy teenage past to. They were laughing and sharing stories, creating a bond that made Penny felt like she could have given Leonard a child. Abigail could've been _their_ daughter, not Zack and Marissa's.

But because of their age, it might be too late.

During their trip at the mall, Penny grown to actually love Abby. She understood why Leonard always wanted to be with her. Not just because Abby was a part of him. But she finally understood how great and smart of a kid Abby really was.

Abby was never like Penny when she was younger. Thankfully. Travis Underhill was her first major boyfriend. She hoped the relationship would go well. According to Abby, Travis didn't seem that bad of a boy compared to his father.

Penny had doubts when Zack and Marissa asked Leonard to be their donor. She never thought they'd be good parents, but Abby was a result of how wrong she was.

It made Penny rethink about keeping Abby away from Leonard. It's not like either of them would tell her the truth about her parentage. Abby loved her father, Zack, too much, that was obvious. If some day Abby would know Leonard was her biological father, Penny hoped she would be okay with it, and won't take it out on anyone. Abby was creating a soft spot in Penny's heart the more they spent time together. That's when she decided to let Leonard see Abby more.

Penny also saw a lot of Leonard in her regarding to looks. That played a special affect too.

After buying some stuff at the mall, Penny suggested that they should eat at her favorite Asian fusion restaurant. Abby was fine with it and Penny drove them there and sat at their table. Their waiter was serving them.

"Thanks for buying me dinner," Abby gratefully said and then took a drink of her lemonade. "You really didn't have to-"

"It's no problem. I wanted to. _My_ treat," Penny gladly replied. "You did spend a lot of money at Sephora. Your Dad won't be mad, will you?"

"Maybe," She shrugged, not being too worried. "Mostly my Mom will, but she can get over it. She has more shoes and perfume than me."

Penny chuckled.

"Is there anything else you want to know about boy stuff?"

"Um...was Leonard your first..._you know_...?" She asked shyly. Penny thought she looked cute as she made that innocent question.

"No, he wasn't, but I wish he was." Penny answered honestly.

"Who was your first?"

"I remember his name was Gary. I don't even know his last name. That's how much it wasn't special to me. When you want to have sex, you should do it when _you're_ ready and with the right guy. Don't let Travis or any other guy pressure you."

"How do you know if it is the right guy?"

"When you know you love him and the both of you are fully committed to each other," Penny was hesitant to ask her question. She couldn't believe she was asking Leonard's - Zach's daughter something so personal. "Do you want to have sex with Travis?"

Abby's eyes widened in shock and her cheeks went red. "Oh, um...we just have started dating. It's a bit too early to think about that, isn't it? I mean, sometimes I think about it, but I don't think I'm ready to do it. I wonder if Travis wanted to if he didn't like that we're taking things slow. Because I'm pretty sure he already did it before. He does seem respectful of me that I don't want us to do it yet. But I sometimes wonder if he'll run out of patience with me and will have sex with someone else and then-"

Penny knew she had to stop her rambling. Abby obviously got her overthinking from Leonard.

"If Travis truly does respect you like you say he does, then he'll wait for you no matter what. That's what a real gentleman will do." Penny assured which seemed to have ease the girl's worries.

"You're right. I'm just nervous if it does happen with him or with someone else."

"It'll be fine. You can talk and show each other what you like and don't like in bed. There must be consent first on both sides. You also must be always protected so you won't end up as a teenage mother."

"Yeah, that does not sound fun," Abby shook her head as their waiter served them their meals. "A girl above my grade is pregnant."

"Oh, god..." Penny groaned and sipped her wine. "I had those at my high school too."

The two women started to eat their dinner while they still got to know each other more.

Penny was more like a cool adult friend Abby never had. It was nice talking about boy stuff and other topics to her rather than to her own mother. It was easier to open up. Abby was liking Penny more than she thought she would've.


End file.
